Taste This Moment
by Tempermental-darling
Summary: Roxas has just moved to a new town...Among new experiences, and the tedious, winding road of Growing Up, he finds love. But is true love always the answer? As the world falls down... can Roxas pick up the pieces? Or will everything end up in ruins?
1. Chapter 1

Sunset Shore is a small town on the very tip of Daylight's Peninsula. It is the last bit of land before the great Atlantic Ocean. The town is a small, close-knit community of mainly middle-class families. These are the suburbs after all; the typical kind of Suburbia where mothers drive their children to soccer practice in their minivans and then treat them to McDonald's afterwards.

Roxas had been here on countless occasions, but never to stay. At least not for good. He'd lived his whole life in another small town about an hour away called Twilight Town.

His older brother Cloud had decided just a few months previous to uproot the two of them from the home his parents once owned to a small house on the same quiet street that his Aunt Millie and cousin Sora lived on.

Roxas can remember countless family get-togethers, on the holidays and such, where Sunset Shore had seemed to be just as quiet and plain as his own home town. There were very few differences. Now, however, the place seemed large and formidable and…well, intimidating. He'd left his friends and neighbors to move to a new town, and start a new school where he knew nobody and nobody knew him.

Okay, so that was kind of a lie. He knew his cousin Sora who was now to be a senior at Sunset Shore East High School. Roxas also knew that his cousin had two best friends that he'd been close to since Kindergarten.

Even so, Roxas was entirely uncomfortable with the idea of starting in a new high school half-way through. He would be going into tenth grade, and while the idea had seemed exciting in June, it was now a nightmare in early September. In Twilight Town he'd had his friends. And although life was dull and uneventful sometimes, it was at least comfortable. Now he felt like a fish out of water.

Roxas sighed as he opened another cardboard box, pulling out little knick-knacks wrapped in newspaper. The first item he unwrapped was a frame with a picture he and his friends had taken just a couple of months ago. The four of them were smiling, arms slung around shoulders, crowding to fit into the picture. He sighed again, ran a hand through his tousled blond hair and set the frame on his empty desk.

He continued to unpack more of his belongings, and slowly but surely his rather empty room filled up. A few hours later, he plopped down on his un-made bed and admired this new room. It was bigger than his room in the old house was, and there was no puke-green carpet, nor Barney stickers from his toddler-hood. It was like a fresh, new sanctuary where he could feel completely _home_.

Roxas had just flicked on the lamp on his desk when Cloud opened his door and said, "Dinner's ready."

"Alright. Be there in a sec," Roxas said, taking one last glance around his finished room before following Cloud into the kitchen.

The house had nearly the same lay-out as Sora's and it was slightly odd to see the same house with different belongings in it. Roxas sat down at the table, careful to avoid the many boxes labeled 'fragile'. Cloud put a carton of Chinese take-out in front of him and mumbled something akin to "Eat up."

"Take-out? I thought you were gonna cook," Roxas said sarcastically and he piled lo mien onto his fork.

"Pfft, please," Cloud smiled. "So, I see you finished your room."

"Yeah. It feels good to have it done. Like I may actually be able to sleep in there tonight."

"That's good. I was worried that even a small transition like this would be too stressful. I mean, it's only been a few months since…" Cloud trailed off and his smile disappeared. He shoved some more chicken in his mouth when Roxas didn't answer.

"So, school starts tomorrow," Cloud offered, trying to get rid of the tense energy that had settled over the table.

"Yeah. I'm actually nervous," Roxas said, frowning into his lo mien.

"Well, it's a lot, Rox. I mean, this is our first night here, and you have school in the morning. That'd be stressful on anybody."

"It wouldn't be so bad if I had friends here."

"You do, though. There's Sora and Riku and…what's 'er name? Kairi? See? Three friends already."

Roxas scowled. "I don't get along with Riku and…Sora's just…Sora. He may be older but he's almost like an annoying younger brother."

"Yeah, like _you_," Cloud teased, earning a small smile from his younger brother.

The rest of the evening passed quickly, as Roxas helped Cloud put away all their dishes and mugs and pots and pans.

Roxas set his alarm clock, and crawled into his freshly made bed, sighing as he worried about tomorrow. He contented himself with the thought that at least he wasn't transferring in the middle of a semester. But it'd still be like being a freshman all over again. That was something he'd really rather not re-live.

He turned out the lamp on his desk, and snuggled into the covers. The room already felt like his, and maybe that was why he fell asleep so easily.

***

Roxas awoke to the shrill beep of his alarm clock which he promptly threw across the room where it broke against the wall. His morning routine was normal in every sense of the word, until the doorbell rang.

"That'll be Sora," Cloud said as he answered the door. Two minutes later, Roxas was glomped while eating a bowl of Lucky Charms.

"Get offa me, Sor!" Roxas yelled, trying to tear his hyper cousin off. "You're gonna spill my cereal!" Sora reluctantly pulled away, smiling from ear to ear.

"Roxy! It's the first day of school. Aren't you excited?!" Sora exclaimed bouncing in the spot he was standing in.

"Nope," Roxas frowned, carrying his now empty bowl to the sink.

"You're no fun," the brunette boy pouted, smile springing back into place as he said, "We're gonna be late if we don't leave now, so c'mon!"

Roxas ran a hand through his messy hair as if the movement would make it less messy. It didn't. He slung his backpack on one shoulder, and headed to the door, Sora bouncing behind.

The walk to the school was short, and the morning was slightly crisp but still warm. Sora continued to talk the whole way while Roxas happily tuned it out, instead choosing to enjoy the scenery. Even if leaving Twilight Town was a pain in the ass, it was still nice to experience something new once in a while. Sunset Shore had more trees, and they were already starting to turn colors, and the crisp in the air was nice.

The high school was like any other, students milling about, riding bikes and skateboards, talking in their little groups. Roxas asked himself what he was so nervous about the night before.

As they entered the school, Roxas turned to Sora and asked "Where's the main office? I need to pick up my schedule."

"Its right down that hallway," Sora pointed. "I'll see you at lunch, Roxas!" Sora then proceeded to bounce away down the main lobby.

The main office was just like any other. He stood at the desk, waiting for one of the secretaries to print out his schedule. And that's when he noticed the one thing that made the office interesting; or the one person.

The first thing that Roxas noticed was the boy's hair, which was a shock of flaming red. He couldn't see the boy's face, because he was facing what appeared to be the principal yelling at him.

"It's the first day of school! The bell hasn't even rung yet, and you're here!" The principal bellowed red in the face. The boy just stood there, hands in his pockets, appearing for all the world that he wasn't getting yelled at so brutally. The principal sighed, his face draining some color. "Axel, if this year is anything like last, you won't be graduating. I don't care how many tests you ace, you can't act like this and get away with it!" By the end of his breath, the principal was yelling at the top of his lungs again.

"Roxas?" He turned around to one of the secretaries, holding out his schedule. He hadn't realized he'd been staring.

"Uh, thanks," Roxas replied, giving a rushed smile as he turned to exit the office.

***

The school was easy enough to navigate. It was really just a big square. Hallways were dedicated to subjects like the Math hallway or the Arts hallway. His first few classes were up on the third floor, where the English and History halls were. For fourth period he was on the first floor again, for Advanced Chemistry.

The lab was small, smaller than most science classrooms, but Roxas suspected that there weren't many kids taking Advanced Chem anyway. He was proven right, as the few desks filled up with students who seemed to be much older. They were much larger than him at any rate.

The first day of school, teachers don't usually teach, instead choosing to hand out syllabi and other such papers for the entirety of the period. However, Mr. Gallagher had decided to indeed start teaching today, as soon as he'd passed out the workbooks.

"So you see, Carbon attaches to Hydrogen because…"

Roxas sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He started to copy down what was written on the blackboard when a boy with flaming red hair walked into the classroom.

"Mr. Flynn, how nice of you to join us," Mr. Gallagher chided. The boy only smirked, shoving his hands in his jean pockets.

"Nice to see you again, Mr. G," the boy replied, choosing a seat in the last row.

"Yes, I'm glad you had to repeat the course," said the teacher.

"You know I can't stay away from a chem lab, G." The boy grinned at the teacher, leaning back in his seat lazily.

The teacher only continued his lesson, while Roxas found himself distracted from taking notes. The boy with the red hair didn't have a pen or even a notebook. Now that he could see the boy's face, he found himself sneaking glances out of the corner of his eye whenever he got the chance.

Roxas found it odd that although the boy appeared to have no interest in school, he answered all of Mr. Gallagher's questions correctly.

Lunch took place directly after Advanced Chem and Roxas was eager to get to his peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He felt a little lame carrying a brown bag into the cafeteria, but shoved it down when he saw Sora already seated with his own paper bag.

"Hi Sora," Roxas said as he took his own seat at the table.

"Roxy! I was worried you'd gotten lost or something," Sora exclaimed, smiling as he took a bite of what appeared to be a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

"Pfft, please. This school is tiny," Roxas replied, unwrapping his lunch. "Oh and don't call me that."

"What? But I always call you Roxy-"

"Not anymore," Roxas interrupted. He then smiled at the other people sitting at the table. Riku was sitting on Sora's other side, followed by Kairi and some small, pale, blonde girl he'd never seen before.

"Oh! Riku, Kairi, you know Roxas," Sora supplied, smiling. "And this is Namine, Roxas. Roxas, Namine."

Both blondes smiled at each other and they lapsed into idle chit chat as Riku and Namine asked him typical, mundane questions.

"Why did you move?" Namine asked, as she brushed her pale hair behind her ear.

Roxas turned his eyes down to the table, and frowned. _Shit_…he felt like crying, even just thinking about it. "Because this is closer to my brother's job." He found that he didn't like the little confused pout from both Namine and Sora. Or the bad taste the lie left in his mouth.

Near the end of lunch, Roxas had found himself taking a liking to small Namine. She was soft spoken and shy, and apparently, a great artist. Sora had insisted that she show him her sketchbook. She blushed and reluctantly agreed. Her drawings really were just as good as everyone said. She blushed again when he told her so. She was also really pretty, he mused as he brought his trash to the garbage can by the windows and vending machines.

As he neared the windows, he noticed a flash of red hair, and paused as he watched the boy from Chem class smoking a cigarette just outside. He was stood with a boy with hair like a strange mullet, and a tall girl with long black hair. The red head turned and caught Roxas' eyes.

Roxas felt his face heat up as he finally dumped his empty bag and foil into the garbage. He'd been staring again. What was it that made the red head so interesting, anyway? He looked away, only to look up again and catch the boy winking at him, grinning as he breathed smoke against the glass. Roxas quickly walked away and met up with Sora and his friends just as the bell rang.

His last class of the day was Open Studio, an art class. Namine had already been there, working on a painting.

"That's really amazing," he said as he walked up to her, putting his backpack on the table.

"Roxas! I didn't know you had this class," she said, taking up some more paint on her brush.

"Yeah. So, it's the first day of school and you already have a finished painting?" he asked.

"It was a summer project. I'm just finishing it up now. It's for my portfolio."

"Are you a senior too?"

"Yep," she smiled. "How are you in this class?"

"Nearly all my classes are advanced," Roxas said. He felt himself blushing. Shit.

Namine giggled. "You're really smart, huh?"

Before Roxas could reply, "Attention, everyone!" said a small woman with a bush of curly brown hair. "I'm Mrs. Ganes and this is advanced Open Studio…"


	2. Chapter 2

Getting used to life in Sunset Shore was surprisingly easy. School was a regular routine, and Cloud was nearly always working. They didn't see much of each other, and Roxas was grateful. It's not that he didn't get along with Cloud, because he did. He loved his older brother. It was just…Cloud was a constant reminder. A reminder that life could never go back to the way it was. And the life that Roxas had envisioned for the future could never be the same. If he didn't think about it, it was okay. He could go about his habits and routines and he didn't have to deal with crying, or hurting. It was _easier_ that way.

He missed his friends, too. Hayner was his best friend, and they talked often on the computer, and made plans to see each other soon. And Pence and Olette didn't cross his mind so much. Mainly because Sora was constantly around, and instead of feeling annoyed, Roxas found himself enjoying his cousin's company.

He didn't talk to anyone else in school besides Sora's friends, and Namine was always calming and pleasant to be with.

His one and only complaint had to be that red headed boy, now known as Axel. He was…to be frank, an asshole. He'd come late to class, and talk back to the teacher, and he distracted Roxas from taking notes. Roxas didn't know _why_ exactly the boy bothered him so much, but one day it just got to be too much.

It was the last Wednesday of September, when Axel walked into the classroom a full twenty minutes late.

"Axel. Detention." Mr. Gallagher said coldly, as the tall boy took his regular seat.

"Sure thing, Mr. G," he smirked. "Oh and, number three is wrong," he said pointing and squinting dramatically to the equation on the board. Like he was pointing and aiming a gun. "The answer's 27."

"Can you shut up?" This came from Roxas, who glared up at Axel while the boy only looked stunned before grinning. Some kids laughed, and some "ooh"ed.

"Sure thing, Blondie," Axel smirked as more students laughed. Roxas could only scowl and glare more as he felt his face flush.

Axel actually _did _stay quiet for the rest of the class, though.

***

As Roxas sat down at the usual lunch table, he scowled.

"What's wrong, Roxy?" Sora asked, popping one of Riku's french fries in his mouth.

"Don't call me that! And nothing," he growled. Then he sighed, ran a hand through his hair and said, "It's just this jerk in my class, he gets on my nerves and I don't know why."

"What's his name?" Riku asked suddenly, his lips twitching like he was trying to hold back a smile.

"Huh? Uh, Axel." At this, Riku burst out laughing.

"I _knew_ it!" Riku chuckled. "Axel gets on everyone's nerves."

"I told him to shut up," Roxas said.

"Hah! What'd he say?" Riku asked.

"He called me Blondie. But he shut up."

Riku blinked his usual stoic expression back. "That's weird. I wonder how _you_ could actually get him to close his mouth."

"Me too."

"So anyway," Sora butted in, turning to look at Roxas sitting next to him, "I was wondering if you wanted to play video games with Riku and me later."

"Uh yeah-"

"But that's-"

Riku and Roxas both looked at each other.

"What were you saying, Riku?" Sora asked, trying to glare even though he looked far too cute for that.

"Uh, nothing, nothing, forget it." Riku mumbled, biting into a burger.

***

Sora's house was two away from Roxas'. It was small and cluttered, and smelled like vanilla because of the candles Aunt Millie burned.

Pictures were scattered all over the walls and tables and mantels. The first picture Roxas actually noticed was of his mother and his aunt, smiling, holding thin glasses of champagne. It appeared to be from Aunt Millie's wedding. They kind of reminded him of him and Sora. His mother had the same corn-yellow hair he did, while Sora shared his mother's chestnut.

"C'mon, I'm thirsty," his cousin said, pulling Roxas from his thoughts. The three of them entered the small kitchen, and Aunt Millie turned around from the sink. She smiled warmly when she saw her little nephew. She was a short stout woman with long chestnut hair pulled up into a messy bun, curls falling over her forehead and shoulders. Her face had changed a lot from the photo, lines starting to make their appearance at the corners of her eyes and lips.

Quickly wiping her wet hands, she immediately proceeded to push Roxas into her bosom and hug him with all her might. He responded eagerly, remembering that this was exactly how his mother's hugs had felt.

"Hey, kiddo," she whispered by his ear. Aunt Millie pulled away, beaming at the blond boy as she held him at arm's length. "So how're things getting along? Cloud's feeding you well, right? I told him any more take-out and I'd-"

Roxas smiled sheepishly. He felt bad enough for Cloud as it was...he certainly wasn't expecting his brother to cook as well as clean, work, put his life on hold to take care of a young boy...

"Yeah, he is. But I really don't mind frozen dinners anyway."

"Well that's good. Lord knows if _Sora_ had to eat a frozen dinner, Hell'd probably freeze over first." Sora placed his glass of juice on the counter, proceeding to grumble under his breath. "Anyway, Roxas, I'm making extra food to send over to Cloud. I worry without a woman in the home..."

She smiled, but something wasn't right about her tone of voice, or the sudden misty quality of her eyes.

Roxas noticed this and realized that…she was trying not to cry. And for the first time, it kind of hit him. _Of course_ his aunt would be just as sad about her sister, as he was for his mom. Maybe even more so, they were _twins_. Fraternal, but twins none the less. And they'd always giggled over their special connection.

And of course there was his own brother, Cloud. Who missed her as much as Roxas did. And Sora, too. Sora'd lost an aunt as well. And an uncle. Everyone in this room had lost somebody, in some respect. Even if it was the same two people, everyone here was missing them.

Roxas all of a sudden had the overwhelming desire to cry, to burst out sobbing and hold his aunt and cousin close and feel some semblance of _family_. Maybe even Riku, since he was all melted and heart-broken at the moment.

"Rox? Are you okay?" Sora's face and voice brought Roxas back to Earth, and he found them all looking at him curiously. Aunt Millie had tears in her big green eyes. They reminded him so much of his mom's.

He took in a deep breath, but nodded, looking down at the floor. He couldn't look at Sora's face, his expression a cross between sadness and worry. Pity always made it so much _worse_.

"Yeah, m'fine," he mumbled.

Aunt Millie patted his shoulder comfortingly. "The cookies are almost done, boys. I'll bring them down to you when they are." She smiled, but it was that same distant, almost-not-there smile.

***

Playing Halo 2 in the basement with the huge tv was familiar. Roxas remembered many Christmas evenings down here, in the dark, playing new games they got for the holiday.

"Haha, _yeah_! Beat you, sucka!" Sora cried triumphantly, fist pounding in the air.

"Yeah, yeah," Roxas grumbled. "Here, you play," He said, shoving his controller into Riku's hands.

"'kay," Riku replied.

The tense, despondent atmosphere that the earlier scene had created dissipated quickly. Sora was nearly always able to brighten a room. He had no problem making Roxas forget about that awkward scene, where he'd been willing to hug _Riku_ of all people. He shuddered internally.

Riku beat Sora and gave a "Whoo!" that was quite out of character, and Roxas found himself smiling, telling himself that it'd be okay. If he could just hold it all together until he got home…

***

It was past seven when all three boys walked out of the house. Roxas had eaten a very satisfying home-cooked meal, and he patted his belly happily. Sora stood on the porch, and beamed at his two friends.

"Bye, Riks," he said lazily hugging his best friend. "Bye Roxas," Sora pulled his cousin into a tighter hug and whispered, "Even though it's through bad circumstances, I'm happy you're here."

Roxas pulled back, a little startled. "Me too, Sora."

"Okay, I think I've had enough 'cute family moments' for a life time," Riku made a face, sticking out his tongue.

"Me too. I'll see you guys on Monday," Roxas smiled, turned to head down the block to his house.

"Wait!" Roxas spun around to face Sora. "Why don't you hang out with us, tomorrow? I'm sure it'll be a lot of fun!"

"…Yeah, okay. I can wait till Sunday to finish that paper. I'll see you tomorrow, Sor!" He smiled, waved and turned and walked the short way back to his new house.

Both Roxas and Sora missed Riku's scowl as the silverette turned to walk in the opposite direction.

***

As soon as Roxas opened the door, Cloud was over him, fuming.

"Where the fuck have you been?" he snarled, his normally pale stoic face flushed red.

Roxas blinked, surprised at his brother's anger. "Uh, I was at Sora's…y'know, about fifty feet from this spot. What the hell?"

It was Cloud's turn to bear a shocked expression, his redness draining. "…Oh. Well that's good. Did you eat? I got…take-out."

The short blond laughed, "Yeah. It was great. Aunt Millie made extra for us." Roxas held up a bag heavy with food. "What were you so freaked about? I mean, where else would I have been?"

"I…I don't know. I just…got worried. I couldn't reach you and-"

"Whatever, dude. It's okay," Roxas supplied, sitting down on the couch. Cloud smiled and disappeared into the kitchen with their bag of leftovers. "Hey…Cloud?" he yelled, trying to get his brother's attention.

"What?" Cloud asked, walking back into the living room, biting into a greasy fast-food burger. He sat down on the couch next to Roxas.

"I was just…How often do you think about it?"

"Wha-? Every day, more, I don't know. It's not something I can walk away from. I mean, you're legally my kid now."

Roxas nodded, understanding. "…Every time I see you, I think about it."

There was a long pause. "So…_that's_ why you've been avoiding me!" Cloud laughed.

"Wha-?! That's not-! I haven't been _avoiding_ you, per se," Roxas flailed, his face turning pink.

"Yeah, sure, whatever you want to call it," Cloud replied, standing up, crumpling the burger wrapper. "I have to finish this thing for work. I'll see you later, Rox." He disappeared down the hall.

Roxas ran a hand through his hair, and felt something bubble in the corners of his eyes. Maybe if he just…got some kind of comfort, it wouldn't be like a pot about to boil over all the time.

He knocked on Cloud's door, and entered when he heard the ok. Cloud was facing away from him, sitting at his desk before his laptop, clicking away at the keys.

"Yeah? What'd you want?"

Roxas made a small noncommittal noise. At this, Cloud turned, giving his brother the pity face that Roxas disliked so much. "You 'kay?" he asked.

Roxas just shook his head, unable to trust his voice. If he spoke, he'd start bawling. He could feel it. "C'mere," Cloud said, opening his arms wide.

"Shit," the small blond groused, annoyed at himself for being so weak. It was just so…_hard_. He fell with great relief into his brother's strong arms, and for a few moments, he could only hear the uncoordinated heartbeats beating against each other. For a few moments, he felt a little better.

Pulling away, he said "I'm sorry." Cloud looked at him in confusion. "I'm sorry that you have to…deal with everything. I mean, you're only 22. And you have to take care of me on top of everything else."

Cloud didn't respond for a long moment, fixing Roxas with an odd, scrutinizing look that he felt uncomfortable under. Finally, "Roxas…you're my little brother. No matter what, you're my brother and I have to be here."

Roxas nodded, tried a small watery smile, and left to bed.


	3. Chapter 3

Weeks passed, and things fell into routine quickly. Sora seemed to have become a permanent, daily fixture. Hardly a day went by without at least saying hi to Sora, and the stability was relieving. It was one less thing that Roxas had to bother himself with. Who needed friends when you had Sora? And Sora's friends? He didn't, that was for sure.

Since that one night, Cloud seemed to become a mother hawk, always calling his cell phone when he was out. He would fix Roxas with that same scrutinizing look when the younger boy sighed, or ran a hand through his hair. Both were just little bits of his personality, so Roxas found himself trying to hide from Cloud as much as possible.

He spent as much time as he could out of the new house, even going so far as to sleep over at Riku's with Sora and Kairi.

Namine made for a good distraction too. She was pretty, and he enjoyed the long talks that they had, discussing everything from the meaning of existence to sea-salt ice cream.

Roxas spent any leftover time when he had to be home hiding in his room and doing homework. He wasn't always a very diligent student but…his parents would've expected it from him. So he lived up to it, some part of him desperate for them be proud. Even if they couldn't be. Even if it wasn't a year yet since they...

It was already mid-October when the first project in Advanced Chem was announced. The trees were fully red and orange now, and leaves littered the sidewalks. The air had turned crisp and cool, the sun's angle lower in the sky. Autumn was always Roxas' favorite season.

Mr. Gallagher described the project which was easy enough, just boring and dull. Apparently, they were to be assigned partners to work with. Roxas felt anxious to be partnered up with a class full of seniors. But really, the only kids he talked to were seniors so what was the difference anyway?

"Katie Perez, you're with Tifa Lockheart," Mr. Gallagher droned, "come get your supplies." Two young women approached his desk and Roxas realized Tifa was the girl he'd seen Axel smoking with on multiple occasions. He wondered if Axel was dating her. She was pretty enough, with her long black hair and she was popular among the boys because of her, uh...rather remarkable bust.

"Aw, c'mon, man. I wanted to work with Tifa!" Axel himself sneered, crossing his arms across his chest. Roxas glared at the older teen, annoyed as he usually was by the red head's antics. Most of the class laughed, the boys agreeing with each other heartily.

"That's too bad, Axel. I actually have someone special that you're with."

"Ooh! Who?" Axel grinned, his green eyes flashing. That was another thing that bothered Roxas about him. His eyes, which were a startling shade of green made Roxas feel like he was under a microscope whenever they were trained on him.

Mr. Gallagher smiled evilly, which didn't suit his scholarly look at all. "Axel Flynn, you're with Roxas Owens. Roxas has the highest grade in the class," at this, Roxas shrunk in his seat, avoiding the glances of his peers. He didn't need everyone knowing the quiet loner was a nerd, too! "And since you're in danger of failing and _not_ graduating, I figured you two would make a great team."

"Roxas? You mean little blond Roxas?" Axel asked, mischievously smiling.

"Yes, _me_, ass," Roxas grumbled, shooting daggers at Axel. He couldn't believe this! He had to be civil to this guy?!

"Language, Roxas. Now, both of you come and get your supplies."

Axel and Roxas both gathered the packet and slides, as Mr. Gallagher continued to call out teams.

The bell rung soon enough. Roxas scrambled to gather his notebooks and leave, hoping to avoid his new...partner. As he approached the door, the little he in his mind started a victory dance only to fall flat on his face as he felt a hand on his shoulder. Roxas turned around to see the one and only Axel.

The taller boy grinned, his eyes pinning Roxas to the spot. "So, partner, how do you wanna do this?"

"What?" The small blond squeaked.

"Me. You. Project." Axel said, pointing first to himself then to Roxas. "Your house or mine?"

"Oh, uh, mine I guess. My brother worries," Roxas blushed as soon as the words came out of his mouth. Way to sound like a lame wad, he chastised himself. Axel was obviously a bad ass and probably thought he was some little geeky kid.

"Sure thing. Do you live close, or do you need a ride, or..."

"It's pretty close. I usually walk," Roxas said, trying to keep calm even though it felt like his nerves were jittering.

"Well, how about you meet me in the student parking lot after school? I'll drive you," Axel grinned, stuffing his hands in his jean pockets.

"Uh, yeah. That sounds okay. See you then," Roxas supplied, and hurried to leave the room. It felt like his stomach was caught in his throat. Or his heart. Or...something. Something was definitely off about Axel, Roxas was sure. Why else would he feel like this? It was some kind of bad ass vibe that Axel was giving off, that was it. Just that. Nothing else.

At lunch, Roxas asked Sora where the student parking lot was.

"It's just out the doors past the gym," Sora supplied happily. "Where you going?"

Roxas could feel his blush, and wondered if he was sick or something. That could explain why he'd been feeling weird ever since talking to Axel.

"Ugh, I have this stupid project in chem. And Mr. G made me partners with Axel. He said he'd drive me home."

Riku snickered. "That sucks."

"Tell me about it."

***

At the end of the day, Roxas walked to the gym instead of following Riku and Sora on the walk home. As soon as he got out of the doors and into the sunshine, he saw Axel smoking a cigarette while talking to Tifa. He walked over to the pair standing between a motorcycle and a small beaten up Chevy.

When Axel's gaze landed on him, he could've sworn that the green had flashed happily. It must've been a trick of the light, Roxas thought. Why would Axel be...happy to see him?

"Hey, kid!" the older teen smiled, flicking his cigarette away, blowing a plume of smoke out of the corner of his mouth. He turned back to Tifa and said, "Well, babe, I've gotta go work some brain muscle. Gotta graduate an' all that jazz." She laughed and got into the Chevy.

"See you later, Ax. Roxas," she smiled sweetly and closed the car door. Axel turned to him, smiling.

"Sorry, I don't have an extra helmet. I wasn't expecting any passengers, today," he said, unlatching a helmet from the shiny red bike.

"This is...your bike?" Roxas asked, feeling like an idiot when Axel laughed.

"Yeah. Yeah, she is. My beautiful Ninja." He climbed onto the bike easily, his long lanky legs graceful.

Roxas gulped. "I've never been on a bike."

"No? Well then, you'll enjoy this. I'm glad. I've never driven a bike virgin before," Axel grinned and his eyes flashed dangerously.

"Hah, 'kay," the blond mumbled, smiling carefully. He climbed awkwardly onto the seat. He didn't know where to put his hands. He'd always seen the passenger hold onto the driver but...

"Hold on," Axel said as he ignited the engine and revved it.

"...'kay."

The ride was bumpy and exhilarating, especially because the term 'speed limit' didn't seem to be part of the red head's vocabulary. Roxas shouted directions above the roar of the engine and wind. It wasn't nearly as awkward to hold onto Axel's slim waist as he'd thought it would be. He enjoyed the crisp air, and the fall scenery flashing by him quickly. He decided that as soon as he could, he'd buy a bike.

It was over far too soon as they pulled into Roxas' driveway. Axel killed the engine.

"Well, this is it," Roxas said as he unlocked the front door. Axel followed him into the living room.

"Didn't you just move here?" he asked, looking around.

"Yeah...?" Roxas responded. "Would you like something to drink or something?"

"Sure. And it doesn't look like you just moved in. I've been living in my place a year and there's still boxes everywhere."

"Haha, really?" Roxas laughed as he walked into the kitchen and to the fridge. "Coke okay?" he asked, holding up two red cans of soda. He couldn't say why, but being around Axel wasn't as intimidating as he'd originally thought. He was funny and very friendly. He didn't seem like a bad ass at all. Well, except for his bad ass bike, but Roxas approved of that.

"Sure," Axel grinned. "Ugh, you have no idea how much I _don't_ want to do this," he groaned, sitting down in one of the kitchen chairs.

"The project?" Roxas asked, sitting down net to him. Axel popped the can and took a long drink.

"Ah, yeah. But I mean, _damn_, they've been cracking down on me like crazy this year."

"Who?" Roxas asked, remembering the first day of school, when he'd first seen Axel getting reprimanded by the principle.

"Oh, y'know, teachers 'n stuff," Axel waved a hand through the air dismissively.

"And principals?" the blond grinned.

"How did you-"

Roxas interrupted, "I saw you getting yelled at." He felt himself blush a little. All of a sudden, he cleared his throat. "We should, uh, get to work, I guess."

Axel moaned, closing his eyes. "Don't remind me," he wined. But none the less, he got up and followed the boy into the living room to work.

***

Two hours later, Roxas decided that they _finally_ had gotten enough done. Axel sighed, leaning back into the couch and closing his eyes.

"Thank god..." he mumbled. He sat back up and looked at Roxas putting the materials in order. "So, whaddya wanna do now?"

"Huh? Uh, I don't know. Cloud's gonna be home soon," Roxas mused, sitting down on the other side of the couch.

"Who's Cloud?" The red head asked. "'n can I have a cigarette?"

Roxas blinked. "He's my brother. And...You can have one outside, I suppose."

"You not fond of smoke?"

"It doesn't bother me, but Cloud would have a fit," he smiled and stood up to the door. Axel followed, already pulling a pack out of his back pocket.

As they both stood outside, on the front porch, Axel lit a cigarette, staring down the street at the sunset.

"I have a question," Roxas said, running a hand through his hair. Green eyes followed the movement, and Axel smiled involuntarily at the seeming nervous tick the boy had.

"Shoot."

"In class...You never take notes or anything but you get all the answers right. And you get good grades. How are you not graduating?"

Axel laughed a little. "You've been paying attention to me? I'm flattered, Rox."

Roxas felt his face heat up: he'd practically told Axel that he spent every class looking at him from the corner of his eye. "Shut up! That's not what I said- It was just a question, but whatever," he grumbled, narrowing his eyes at the taller teen.

"Don't get so mad, kid. I'm just playin'," Axel laughed, blowing out smoke. "And I'm not _not_ graduating. At least not yet. 'N I just think its stupid, doing extra work when I already know all the answers. They just like to watch me squirm. Especially since I blew up the chem lab last year."

Roxas' eyes bulged in surprise as he glanced up at the red head. "You blew up the chem lab?!"

Axel laughed again, but this time the sound was deep and melodic. The mirth reached his eyes. It was then that Roxas seemed to finally notice two small tattoos, upside down triangles under each eye. They lifted with his cheeks as he smiled. "Haha, yeah. It was an accident, but I was still suspended for two weeks."

"Damn."

The two boys stood on the porch as Axel smoked another cigarette, both comfortable with the silence that enveloped them. As the older stubbed out his cigarette, Cloud's Toyota pulled into the driveway beside the motorcycle.

"Oh, my brother's home."

"Should I go then?" Axel asked, sounding slightly disappointed.

"Uh..."

Cloud exited the car, and smiled up at his brother on the porch. With...what appeared to be a friend? He proceeded to pull a bag of take-out from the backseat.

"Take-out okay with you, Rox?" The eldest man asked as he walked up to the porch. "And who's your friend?"

"Oh, this is Axel. We have a science project together," Roxas said, running another hand through his hair.

"Nice to meet you, Mister..?" Axel smiled, holding out a hand.

"Cloud. Just Cloud. I'm not _that_ old, yet," he smiled back, shaking the teen's hand. "Hey...do you wanna stay for dinner? We have plenty of Spring Rolls to go around."

"Sure thing, Cloud. Dinner with you and Roxas should prove to be entertaining."

Dinner proved to be anything _but_ entertaining. It was awkwardly quiet, mainly because Cloud wasn't one to strike up conversation, nor to keep it going. All of Axel's questions and comments received one or two word answers, and Roxas had a hard enough time trying to keep his frazzled nerves from screaming in protest. The annoying jerk from his science class was sitting at his kitchen table trying to make small talk over steamed pork and rice.

As Cloud got up from the table, mumbling something about work, a loud rock song started to play. Axel reached into his pocket, pulling out a phone.

"Yo," he said, leaning back in the chair lazily. Roxas eyed Axel, but proceeded to collect their plates and dump them in the sink. "No...Yeah. Demy- Wait, I'm not _at_ home, dumbass...No, it doesn't matter where I am....Yeah. I'll meet you there in ten."

Roxas looked up at Axel as he stood up from the table, stretching his arms above his head. "I gotta go."

"S-sure," the blond stuttered as he walked Axel to the door. There was an odd moment, where Axel just stood there, looking down at Roxas. He made no attempt to leave, and Roxas found himself pinned to the spot by those venom green eyes.

"Well...bye," he said, leaning down and loosely wrapping his arm in a half-hug around Roxas' shoulders.

"See ya," Roxas mumbled, lifting one arm to half-hug the red head back.

Although Roxas felt anxious and uncomfortable, it was still a small disappointment to watch Axel drive away on his bike. He told himself that it was just because he wanted another ride on that bike, that was all. It had nothing to do with Axel himself. Okay, so maybe it did, a little bit. The older teen was amusing, and friendly, and pretty easy to talk to. And he was pretty smart too, had all these great ideas to make the bland project a bit more interesting.

Roxas went to bed that night eager for tomorrow.


	4. Chapter 4

The rest of the school week passed in a similar fashion. Axel would drive Roxas and himself to the boy's house on his bike. Roxas would insist upon working hard, while Axel would moan and groan and avoid talking about the project like the plague. It took about a half hour, but the red head would finally relent, adding his own ideas and writing down the chemical formula for each element.

Cloud would arrive home shortly after, and the three would have some form of dinner, even if turkey sandwiches didn't count as a home cooked meal. Cloud seemed to develop a small liking to Axel, much as Roxas had. On Thursday, the eldest blond even watched a movie with the two after a dinner consisting of three opened soup cans. The red head insisted upon celebrating the completed project with cokes and a totally bad ass action movie. Roxas found that Axel had great taste in films.

The project was due Monday, but Roxas found himself disappointed that they'd finished it so soon. Now Axel had no reason to come over anymore, no reason to hang out with the dorky little geek from class. He was always running off with his friends right after dinner anyway. Axel was probably bored at the blond's house.

At the end of Chem on Friday, Axel stopped Roxas from fleeing the room much as he had on Monday.

"Yeah?" the blond asked, looking up into those eyes. They were far less intimidating now, and Roxas didn't feel like he was under a microscope anymore. Those green eyes were now friendly and welcoming.

"I know we're finished, but I was wondering if you wanted to hang tonight anyway."

"Sure, okay. My cousin Sora's gonna be coming over anyway, so it'll be more fun with you there."

"Sora, huh? I haven't talked to that kid since like, tenth grade."

Roxas laughed. "He's the same age as you!"

"True, true. Anyway, I have work after school today, so could I get your cell? I'll call you when I get off."

Roxas blinked, realizing that Axel was asking to exchange numbers. Like new _friends_. The word felt good in the back of his throat. Sure, Sora and Riku could be entertaining, and he really liked Namine. But he still missed the close camaraderie of his home town friends. He hadn't even talked to Hayner in a couple weeks.

"Yeah, sure. Here, give me your phone," the blond grinned, holding out his hand. A sleek Razr with a flame cover was handed to him. He quickly punched in his number and pressed 'send'. His own phone started jingling in his pocket. "There, you have mine and I have yours."

"Great," Axel grinned, slinging a bag over his shoulder. "'M dying for a cig. Call ya later, kiddo!" he yelled as he traipsed down the hall.

"I'm not a kid!" Roxas yelled back, smiling.

He actually felt...kind of happy. As happy as he could be, at any rate. He'd made a new friend. And not just any friend, but that totally obnoxious bad ass from Chem that he'd hated at first. Roxas knew that was a lie. He'd never really _disliked_ the red head; in fact, he'd always been sort of intrigued by the guy. He would never admit that, though. Not even to himself.

***

Sora was glad to hear that Axel was coming over later as well. Riku however, didn't seem as pleased. He grumbled under his breath, looking darkly into his mystery meat.

"Oh, and I have some cool news," Sora grinned, wrapping an arm around Kairi sitting next to him. She smiled and giggled a little, a small hand coming up to cover her mouth. "Kairi asked me to the Sadie-Hawkins dance."

"That's awesome," Roxas replied. "I wish someone would ask me, but I know that won't happen. I don't know any girls in my grade."

"Who says they have to be your age?" Namine asked quietly. Roxas shrugged and missed her odd stare as he got up to throw out his trash.

As he neared the garbage cans, he saw a familiar flash of red just outside the windows with the usual companions. Axel turned quickly, grinning at Roxas. He winked, and turned back to his friends.

For a second, a thought passed through his mind. What if Axel asked him to the dance? Even though they were two boys, it seemed like something the teen would do, if only for a laugh. He ran a hand through his hair and turned away, heading back to the usual lunch table.

***

The saying goes, "Be careful what you wish for." Roxas definitely felt that the moral fit the lesson. He was sitting at the table in Art, next to Namine who had just asked the one question he would never guess at her asking.

"Roxas...Do you- do you want to go to the dance with me?" She looked at him quietly but fiercely, her blue eyes fixed and unwavering. A small flush developed over her cheeks. It made her already translucent skin seem paler, and he thought she looked very pretty.

He was surprised...he couldn't imagine that little Namine had indeed asked him out...but, he couldn't find a reason to say no either. And she was turning pinker, her eyes trailing away to focus on something else. His brain told his mouth to say something.

Finally, he found his voice, while Namine was clearly looking at anything but him. "Yeah, of course, Namine. How could I say no?"

"Oh, really?" She smiled, turning to look at him again. She was so small, smaller than he was, and that's saying something. And she was so sweet, and _pretty_, and Roxas felt his insides heat up.

"Do you...really want to go with _me_?" he asked.

"...I wouldn't have asked you if I didn't."

"Oh. Well, that's good." He smiled at her, and he enjoyed the way her own smile lit up her face, lit up her big blue eyes. He thought it was maybe a little weird to like someone who looked just like him, what with blond hair and blue eyes. His stomach turned a little. Was he a narcissist?

Roxas pushed the thoughts from his head as the bell rang. He stood up slowly, putting away his sketchbook and pencil as if stalling for time. Namine was waiting for him by the classroom door, and for the first time Roxas seemed to notice her delicate curves that were accentuated by the pale white dress she wore.

They walked in silence together, meeting up with Sora and Riku by the front doors.

"Hey guys! Rox, you ready to go?" the brunette beamed. He'd taken to calling Roxas Rox because the boy didn't approve of his childhood 'Roxy'.

"Yeah. I'll...see you later, Namine," he said happily. Before he could talk himself out of it, he pulled her into a tight hug that lasted a few seconds longer than normal. As he pulled away the girl blushed, and fluttered a goodbye before disappearing down another hallway.

Someone coughed. Roxas spun around, to find Sora looking at him smugly. "What was that all about?"

"Oh. Nam asked me to the dance, that's all." Sora grinned and led the two other boys out the double doors.

"That's great! It'll be like a double date. You 'n Nam, and me 'n Kairi. It'll be a blast."

"You know, I didn't think she'd be your type, Roxas," Riku drawled.

"How do you know what my type is?" Roxas growled, crossing his arms indignantly. Riku didn't also think that Roxas was weird for liking a girl...that looked like him. Right?

"I was thinking something more along the lines of a tall red head, but I guess I'm mistaken."

"What?!" he yelled, scandalized and outraged. Was Riku suggesting that he was..._gay_? That was ridiculous! He most certainly wasn't. At least...not when he felt warm even just thinking about Namine. "Are you insinuating that..._Axel_ is my type?"

"Yeah," Riku shrugged. "I mean, he's the only friend you've really made here. And he doesn't shut up about you in Psych. It's always Blondie this and Blondie that. It gets old really quick too, lemme tell you."

"...He _talks_ about me?"

Riku scoffed. "All the time. I think he'll be disappointed when he finds out you're taken for the dance."

"Like Axel would even _go_ to the dance, Riku," Sora snapped. "He probably already has plans to go to some bar that night with his delinquent friends."

"Hey! He's not like that, Sora," Roxas chided, annoyed by the whole conversation. What did Riku _mean_? It didn't make any sense, but it made his head feel dizzy and his stomach a little queasy.

"Pfft. Yes he is. Last year he got suspended three times for coming to class drunk. Or high. Or both," Sora retaliated. "I know Axel can be cool and everything, but you don't know what he's like really."

Roxas didn't know how to respond to this. He felt his anger drain away, replaced by something ice cold in the pit of his stomach. Sora was right. He didn't know anything about the red head, didn't know any of his friends, or..._anything_. All they ever talked about really was chemistry. He felt like such a loser. Talking about chemistry when Axel was into things like booze, and girls, and motorcycles.

He was in way over his head with this one that was for sure.

***

Riku left on the walk home to his own house a couple of blocks from the cousin's street. Roxas was still agitated by the whole day. He'd made a new friend, found a possible girlfriend, and had people starting to question his sexuality. Sora seemed to notice the tense lines of the blond's shoulders.

"It wouldn't matter," the brunette said quietly. "If you liked Axel, I mean. It doesn't matter who you like, Roxas. As long as you're happy."

"I _am_ happy. I like Namine. I like _girls_, dammit. Just because I haven't actually had a girlfriend yet doesn't mean-"

"I kind of understand, though," Sora interrupted him, his usual wacky smile absent. He was rarely serious. "What Riku was talking about. Doesn't Namine remind you of...?"

Roxas groaned quietly, running a hand through his tousled hair. It was dry and windy, and the weather seemed to make his feathery spikes even more uncontrollable than normal.

"She does, but how could I say no?"

***

The afternoon passed quickly, as Sora and Roxas played video games in the blond's room. Roxas made some popcorn as a snack, and they guzzled down soda like it was wine.

Cloud came home earlier than usual, but he seemed to be in a mood as the man just ignored his visitor, and shut himself in his office. Neither Sora nor Roxas wanted to interrupt him. Both knew how Cloud was when he got into one of his moods. He was ornery and brooding, and would make even simple questions like "what do you want for dinner?" into epic arguments.

It was a quarter past seven when Roxas' phone started to vibrate in the pocket of his khaki cargo pants. For some reason, his heart jumped at the sound. He knew who it was. Having few friends left few options for who would be calling.

"Hello?"

"Yo, Rox! How's it goin'?" came the static reply of Axel's voice. "I just got out of work. I'm gonna head on over, 'kay?"

"Uh, yeah, sure."

"Hey, have you eaten yet?"

"...No. Why?"

"No reason. See ya soon, kid." The click signaled the end of the call. Ten minutes later, 'shave and a haircut' was knocked out on the blond's door. Roxas answered it, and was surprised to see Axel in his work uniform. The red shirt and visor did little to distract from the vibrancy of his hair, but Axel looked funny none the less.

"...You work at Movie Busters?"

"Yup," Axel grinned, walking into the house as if he lived there.

Sora was stood by the living room, smiling as he eyed the red head's attire. "Nice," he grinned. "Hey, Ax. I haven't talked to you in like...two years. How's it been?"

Axel laughed a little, ripping the visor from his forehead. "Pretty good. Yourself?"

The conversation was interrupted as Roxas' stomach growled loudly. Both older teens turned to look at the boy as he felt his face flush in embarrassment.

"Um...anyone want dinner?"

"Guess what, Roxas?" Axel asked as he sauntered into the kitchen, immediately opening cabinets and pulling out jars of spices and canned vegetable.

"What?"

"_I'm _gonna make dinner tonight. Don't get me wrong, I love Cloud's sandwiches, but I figured a good home cooked meal would do us all good."

Roxas' stomach gurgled again, and all three boys erupted in laughter.

It took about an hour, and the kitchen was a mess, but Axel managed to cook a fitting meal which consisted of string beans from a can, chicken cutlets and rice from one of those packets.

Axel piled Roxas' plate with as much as he could fit on there, and slid it in front of the boy. "Bon appetite, Mon Cheri."

"Eww, don't call me that. You make me sound like a girl," Roxas grumbled. Axel sat down beside him while Sora sat on the other side of the blond.

"Actually," Axel said, "Mon cheri is the male form of the phrase."

"Oh, that makes me feel _so_ much better," the blond rolled his blue eyes.

The three dug into their food, and it was surprisingly delicious. Axel had combined the string beans and rice together with sauce that was well seasoned and yet light at the same time.

"This is amazing," Roxas said around a mouthful of food.

"Thank you, Rox. But it's nothing really. Just what I could throw together with what you had. I take it Cloud's not fond of cooking?"

"Nah, not really," the blond laughed, trying to tune out Sora's noisy eating.

"Hey, out of curiosity, what about your parents? I haven't met them yet."

Silence fell over the table, Sora looking between Roxas and Axel. The blond was staring down at his plate, bangs hanging over his eyes. Axel was focused on Roxas, looking at him curiously; a fork laden with food paused in mid-air.

"...I have the feeling I just said something I shouldn't have." Roxas snapped up at this, but he couldn't make himself look at the red head. He didn't want to see that pity face on _Axel_ of all people. He didn't think he could handle it. He didn't want pity, didn't want sympathy. He just wanted to continue on with his life, keep it as normal as possible. He wanted to ignore everything bad that had happened and just focus on the good. Thinking about dark things just made everything seem that much bleaker. If Roxas didn't have his avoidance, he didn't know what he'd do. Off himself? Probably not, but sometimes the thought crossed his mind.

"No, it's alright. I just...don't feel like talking about it, 'kay?"

Axel looked at him oddly but didn't say anything more about it. As always, Sora came to the rescue. He had them both laughing again and in no time, the three were sprawled on the couches in the living room in front of the tv. Axel had brought over another movie about vampires and werewolves, and although Sora was hiding in the cushions, Roxas found it to be very interesting.

"Y'know, I would've pegged you to be the type to be squealing like Sora right about now. I guess there's a lot I don't know about you, Rox." Axel looked over at him in the darkness, the only light being the faint blue-ish glow of the television. Since when were they sitting so close? He could practically feel the other boy's body heat.

"Really? Yeah, you _don't_ know me. At all," Roxas scoffed, trying his best to frown instead of pout.

A loud familiar rock song broke out and Axel made a face, digging in his pocket for his phone. He frowned at the name lit up in the display.

"Yo?" he grumbled into the phone. "...What? That was tonight? Oh, man! Huh...Okay, okay. I'm comin' right now. Yeah. I'll meet you guys there." Axel shut the phone with a click and turned to look at Roxas.

"You're leaving?" He tried to, but he couldn't stop himself from sounding disappointed.

"Apparently. There's this killer show tonight. I thought it was tomorrow, but..." He stood from the couch, and looked down. He seemed to realize his attire. "Shit," he groused. "I can't go to a show in _this_."

"Well, you should probably go now, so you can change and all," Sora snapped, no longer trying to worm into the couch. He seemed a little...annoyed. At least the glare seemed serious enough, even with his usually cute pout.

"I don't really have time to- Hey, Roxas," Axel turned from Sora to grin down at Roxas. "I couldn't borrow a shirt, could I?"

Part of him wanted to refuse, wanted to watch Axel squirm. He was, to be honest, a little annoyed that Axel would just up and leave. Even if concerts were much more fun than watching a lame movie. Okay, never mind.

"Yeah, whatever," he scowled, standing up. He made a motion for Axel to follow him down the hallway to his room.

It took some deciding between a plain green tee and a black tee with a skull on it, when Axel's phone rang again. The red head eagerly grabbed the black shirt and practically ran out of Roxas' room, and into the living room.

"See ya later, kids!" he yelled as he ran out the door and to his bike. Roxas stood by the open door as he watched Axel drive away. He didn't realize how long he'd been standing there when Sora came up behind him.

"He's a jerk."

"He's not a jerk. Who wouldn't choose a concert over this?"

Sora looked at him incredulously. "Not him, that's for sure."


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: This chapter is really long. It's the dance! I had a lot of fun writing this.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Sora ended up spending the night, the two cousins finally falling asleep on the couch after a myriad of Disney movies. The brunette had insisted upon 'good, wholesome' entertainment after Axel's bloody choice.

It took Roxas a while to fall asleep. He sat next to Sora who was already snoring, staring at the blue screen that filled the tv. Tonight had ended up a bigger disappointment than he'd originally thought. Was Axel his friend? The older boy seemed to have a large social life on his own.

He didn't even understand why it bothered him so much that Axel had left like that. It wasn't like he hadn't spent time with the red head. Axel had even made dinner. So why did he feel lonely? Sora was right there. And there _was_ Namine. He should be thinking about her, instead of dwelling on Axel. Who was Axel compared to a sweet, quiet, pretty girl? Who needed a bad ass delinquent that had blown up the chem lab? Who had gone to school drunk? Who needed someone that caused such drama? Not him, that's for sure.

However, this comforting thought did little to help him sleep.

***

Roxas awoke to the sound of yelling. He blearily looked around himself, realizing that he was in the living room, rather than his bed. Why was he here? He blinked, rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

Judging from the angle of the sun, it was already around noon. What time had he gone to bed last night?

More yelling brought him back to the question of whom and what had woken him up. Sora wasn't on the couch anymore. Maybe he'd gone home...? As Roxas rounded the corner from the living room to the foyer (where the yelling was coming from) he found a scene he hadn't been expecting to see. Cloud, maybe, but not Riku.

The silverette was yelling, and there was Sora, biting his lip angrily, shaking and red in the face. "See? I knew it; I knew I'd find you here! BECAUSE YOU'RE ALWAYS HERE! I just- I just don't understand you, Sor!" Riku bellowed.

"Me?!" shouted Sora incredulously. "Me?! I should be saying that you! I wake up to you banging on the door, angry for no fucking reason! And then you just start _yelling_ at me!"

"I have plenty good reason!"

"And what might that be?" Both boys turned to look at Roxas, Sora blinking widely in surprise.

"You!" Riku shouted, pointing at the blond. "It's all your fault!"

"_My _fault? What the fuck did I do?!" Roxas shouted, angry now at everyone. Everyone in the whole fucking world. Riku, for starters. And then there was Axel, and his brother Cloud that made him feel _guilty_ of all things for his parent's death...And...

"You did _everything_!" Riku sighed, then let his shoulders slump. He didn't feel like yelling anymore. "You just...you _barge_ in here, into our lives, and demand all of Sora's attention. And-"

"I don't demand anything! Sora asked to come over last night! He asked me to hang out! And isn't Sora free to make his own decisions?"

"No!" Riku bellowed. "He's _my_ friend! I'm sorry that your parent's are dead, and you don't have any friends. But he's not _yours_! He's _mine_!"

"How dare you, Riku! What the hell am I? A piece of furniture to be argued over? I don't belong to anybody!"

Both Riku and Roxas turned to look at Sora as if either boy had forgotten he was there. The brunette was shaking fiercely, red with rage. This was the first time Roxas had heard him curse. Normally Sora would cover his ears and go 'la la la' whenever someone around him did.

"No, Sora I didn't-" Riku all of a sudden looked sad, remorseful.

"Didn't what? Mean what you said? Of course you did, Riku! You meant every word."

"No, really I-"

"Roxas is my cousin! I'm nearly the only family he has left and you- you're _jealous_ that I care?! That I care about someone other than you? Well, newsflash, Riku, you're not my wife! I can do or see who I want when I want and there's nothing you can do or say otherwise!"

"Sora, I-"

"No! Now get the hell out! I don't want to see your stupid face ever again!" With that, Sora pushed Riku out the door, slamming it on his flabbergasted face.

For a good ten minutes, both teens just stood in the foyer, saying nothing. What was there to say anyway? How could Roxas apologize for what had just happened? Riku was an asshole, but some of what he'd said had been true. Sora and Riku had been best friends since they were in diapers. Riku was more family than Roxas was, really. They'd grown up together, two peas in a pod. And now? Could that friendship really be over, could it fall apart all because of him?

Roxas felt nauseous at the thought.

"...I'm sorry, Roxas."

"Wha- You're sorry? Don't be! It's me who should-"

"No, you didn't do anything wrong. And neither did I, really. Riku can just...get like that sometimes."

"...Have you fought like this before?"

"Well, not like this. But when I became friends with Kairi in third grade...something like this happened. And now those two are practically best friends." Sora smiled wanly.

"I'm still sorry," Roxas replied. He'd never gotten along with Riku very well and now he was partially responsible for a catastrophic fight.

"Don't be."

"Do you really never want to see him again?"

"Honestly? Right now I don't even know."

***

When Cloud returned from work later that day, he found Roxas scrubbing an already immaculate kitchen. In fact, the whole house looked like he'd been cleaning all day. Cloud immediately knew that something was wrong. Roxas only cleaned like this when he was stressed or extremely upset.

The night their parents had passed, the blond had stayed up, dusting and disinfecting, finally collapsing at around noon the next day.

"Roxas? You alright?" he asked wearily, setting down a bag of take-out on the kitchen table. The wood shone spotlessly.

"Huh?" Roxas looked up from the countertop, hair spiking chaotically, his face slightly flushed. "What's wrong?"

"I'm asking you that question."

The young boy looked up at his brother for a long moment, knowing he was caught. He never could get away with anything with Cloud. His shoulders slumped in defeat. "Yeah, alright, you got me."

Cloud sat down in one of the chairs and motioned for Roxas to do the same. He sighed, ran a hand through his hair and finally plopped down.

"Did something happen?"

"Because of me, Riku and Sora are fighting. I don't even know if they're friends anymore," Roxas sighed, pulling another hand through his hair. He looked frazzled, his feathery blond hair sticking up on end, his face slightly flushed, his eyes glazed. To be honest, Cloud was a little worried.

"Because of you?"

"Sora slept over last night. And I woke up to the two of them screaming at each other about me."

"What about you?"

Roxas sighed. "Sora's been spending a lot of time with me, I guess. And Riku was jealous. I think he thought I was stealing his best friend away or something."

"Well that's ridiculous, you didn't do anyth-" Cloud stopped speaking as he saw Roxas looking at him. Blue eyes were swimming with tears. Maybe this was the proverbial last straw. Maybe all the stress was finally too much, and Roxas couldn't handle it.

"It's all my fault," the blond squeaked, his voice breaking on the last word. Without further warning, Roxas broke down, sobbing quietly into his hands. Cloud stood, pulling his younger brother into his arms. It broke his heart to see Roxas, ornery, belligerent Roxas in tears. The boy was usually so cool and collected, unperturbed by things that would even rattle Cloud's stoic bones.

Roxas fisted the shirt in front of him and held on for dear life as sobs racked his body. It wasn't even necessarily the fight that had him so upset. He hadn't yet allowed himself to cry over the loss of his parents, and now that the tears were out, he couldn't seem to shove them back in again.

"It's okay, it's okay," Cloud mumbled, over and over. He didn't know how to make it better. He didn't know if there was even something he could say that would change it. Maybe beating the shit out of Riku...but no, that would just make Roxas angry and even guiltier than he already felt.

The sobs stopped a few minutes later, and Cloud pulled away, holding Roxas at arm's length. He hiccupped a few times, wiping his cheeks, smiling slightly.

"'M sorry for crying on you like that," his voice was hoarse from the tears.

"Don't apologize for showing how you feel, Roxas. Personally? I think it's manlier to cry than to pretend that you don't feel at all."

***

On Monday, Roxas and Axel presented their project. Mr. Gallagher seemed impressed that Axel had done anything at all. The red head didn't mention Saturday night, and although Roxas was grateful for it, another part of him twisted in anger. Even a simple, 'I'm sorry, I know that was rude' would've sufficed.

Lunch, as Roxas had been predicting, was awkward. Sora, Kairi and Namine were already at the usual table. Riku, however, was glowering from across the cafeteria. He was seated with kids Roxas had never bothered to notice before. There was a boy with grey-ish blue hair that fell over his face, and a blond girl with weird antenna like bangs.

He didn't know how to react when he saw Sora. The usually chipper brunette sat quietly eating his sandwich. He looked the same, there were no bags under his eyes nor anything else equally cliché. But his posture was entirely alien. He'd never seen Sora like this before. Even at his parent's funeral, Sora had at least smiled sadly, that same twinkle in his eyes.

Roxas couldn't think of anything to say. He felt like an asshole. Half of him wanted Sora to get angry with him. To yell at him and accuse him of ruining their friendship. It would've made both of them feel better, at any rate. But Sora remained virtually silent, except for a perfunctory 'hello' or something equally mundane.

In art class, Namine asked Roxas what had happened. Apparently Sora had only told Kairi that he and Riku weren't on speaking terms. He had tried to worm his way out of answering. Roxas didn't want to offend Sora even more by blabbing something he didn't want blabbed. Eventually, Namine managed to garner only the tiniest of details, but she seemed satisfied by that.

***

The rest of the week passed by in similar fashion. Sora started to talk more, and by Wednesday he was nearly back to his old self. Riku seemed aware of this fact because by Wednesday he was practically gnashing his teeth at lunch time, staring at the brunette across the cafeteria almost all period long.

Roxas found it easy enough to ignore the whole thing, and went back to laughing and joking with his cousin as if nothing had happened. Sora seemed eager enough to comply, never letting his smile waver.

Cloud didn't mentioned what had transpired that Saturday evening, for which Roxas was eternally grateful. He felt ashamed by his weakness. However weak he felt, the blond had taken to the habit of crying a little bit before bed every night. It was as if a dam had broken, and there was nothing he could do to put it back together again. He felt relieved afterwards, though. Purged. And he fell asleep quicker and easier than usual.

Plus, it didn't really help that Axel seemed to ignore what had been a blossoming friendship. The older teen didn't talk to Roxas aside from a 'hello' at the beginning of every chem class. It was almost as if Axel had forgotten the previous week entirely.

He would never admit this, not even to himself, but it hurt a little more than he thought necessary. He hardly knew Axel as it was. Although he did miss the company after school, the house empty and sullen. Especially since Sora didn't seem up to hanging out much anymore either.

It was Friday before Roxas could blink, and by breakfast he was already nervously ill, trying to stop himself from up-chucking into his corn flakes. Had the week really passed that fast? Was it really the dance already? What was he going to wear? What if everything that could possibly go wrong actually went wrong?

***

Sora followed Roxas home after school. It took a couple hours and a lot of complaining on the blond's part before both deemed themselves worthy of their dates. Roxas wore a nice button down maroon shirt and a pair of jeans with holes on the knees. Sora had on a matching navy shirt accompanied by a pair of black slacks. The younger spent about a half hour standing in front of the bathroom mirror trying to get his hair to spike to the side just right. His hair was thin and defiant, but he finally managed to make it look how he wanted. Sora just allowed his brown spikes to fall chaotically over his head, not even bothering to brush it.

At a quarter to seven, the doorbell rang signifying the girls' arrival. They'd all agreed to meet at Roxas' house and walk to the school from there. Cloud opened the door, letting the two young women into the house.

"Roxas is still primping himself, let me go get him," he excused himself politely. Namine and Kairi shared knowing glances and giggled. He hurried down the hall and knocked loudly on Roxas' door. "Your hair looks _fine_, kid. They're here so come on out."

After some more grumbling, Roxas finally walked into the foyer. He found that he could do nothing but let his jaw drop and admire the two young women before him. Kairi didn't look all that different, but her tight shirt and mini skirt accented her curves in all the right places.

Roxas remembered the girl when she was just that...a little girl with wine-colored hair and rosy cheeks. She'd certainly...grown since then.

Namine was a sight to behold. Just looking at her made his heart start to beat faster. He wiped his sweaty palms against his jeans. She was wearing another white dress, but this one was much nicer. It tightly hugged her bosom and waist, flaring at her hips delicately. Pale flowers were embroidered on the skirt; little gems making it shine in the light. Her blonde hair was pulled up, wisps of it falling over her face and shoulders. Big blue eyes were lined with black making them seem even larger. Namine's translucent skin allowed for small blue veins to appear here and there and Roxas thought she looked like something equivalent to an Elvin princess from J.R.R. Tolkien's imagination.

"Uh, h-hey," he stuttered, cursing his lack of cool. Namine smiled sweetly. Sora appeared behind him, smiling widely. He lit up as he spotted Kairi.

"You look amazing, Kai!"

She blushed. "You don't look too bad yourself."

"Namine, I-" Roxas faltered, feeling his face grow hot in embarrassment. "You look like a fairy princess." She looked at him oddly, twirling a ringlet of hair around a slender finger.

"Let's get this show on the road, shall we?" Sora grinned and the four of them headed out the door, Cloud calling after them to stay out of trouble and enjoy their evening.

***

The school gym hardly looked like itself. There were paper decorations hanging from the rafters, the normally fluorescent lights replaced with red-hued ones that left everything rosy and soft around the edges. A DJ was set up in the corner, loud thumping music already playing as the four entered the room.

There was a bigger turn out than Roxas had expected, though the room seemed to be full of mainly seniors. He suspected that younger girls, especially freshmen were too shy to ask boys to a dance.

The area before the DJ seemed to be reserved for dancing as half the class was already there, grinding to the music, laughing and chatting amongst themselves. To the left the round cafeteria tables were set up majestically, sporting red table clothes and little vases with plastic flowers. It was all decidedly cheesy, but Roxas found himself smiling regardless.

"Punch?" Sora suggested, and the four headed over to the punch bowl and other refreshments. After collecting their glasses, they found an unoccupied table and Roxas immediately sat down, gulping at his punch. His stomach was fluttering nervously. What if Namine actually wanted to...dance? Other students started to meander their way over to the table they were surrounding.

Sora seemed to have a lot more friends than he ever let on. People came and chatted with the brunette for a while before being introduced to Roxas who shyly acquainted himself. Namine sat next to him and they talked together, heads ducked down to hear each other better. He could smell her perfume, and although it was a light flowery scent, he could taste the bitterness of it in the back of his mouth. He decided that soft, delicate fragrances weren't exactly an aphrodisiac as they were for other boys.

Suddenly, Roxas thought back to last Saturday evening, sitting with Axel on the couch. The red head had been sitting uncomfortably close, and he'd gotten a few whiffs of something musky and spicy. He liked that smell much better. Oh god, what was he thinking? Here he was, sitting next to a beautiful girl and once again all he could think about was that insufferable _boy_. That insufferable boy who had all of a sudden abandoned what could've been his first real friendship in this new town. God dammit.

"Roxas...Roxas, he's here!" Sora hissed, jerking the blond from his thoughts.

"Who's here?" he asked, scanning the gym for a familiar face. And there was Riku, standing amongst the students he'd seen the silverette sitting with at lunch. Zexion and Larxene: Sora had told him as much earlier on that week. "Oh."

"Yeah. So, what do I do? Ignore him, or...Oh no! He's coming over here!" The brunette squeaked, holding Roxas' arm in a tight, circulation-cutting grip.

"Just- I don't know!" the blond supplied, as caught off guard as his cousin was.

"Oh, no! He's coming over here! I- Oh. Hi, Riku," Sora's shrill voice dulled to something cold as ice.

"Sora," Riku drawled, "I thought maybe we could talk somewhere more...private." He shot a glance at Roxas, and it conveyed the message he probably intended: _I hate you_.

"Umm, I don't think that's such a good idea, I was just in the middle of...something with Kairi." Sora turned to the girl behind him, pulling her away from the small group of girls she'd been talking to. Whirling her around, he pulled Kairi to him and smushed their lips together rather crudely. She made a surprised "Mmph!" noise, her punch spilling from the force of the attack. Pulling away, Sora looked up at Riku from under his bangs.

"I...see," was all that Riku said before turning on his heel and disappearing into the crowded dance floor.

"Sora!" Kairi yelped scandalized. "If you wanted to kiss me, all you had to do was ask." She took a step closer, but the brunette took another step back, eyes slightly fearful.

"Uh...Sorry. That was just to get rid of um, Riku."

"Oh silly." The two shared a smile and something seemed to be decided because both headed to the dance floor hand in hand.

Roxas sat down beside Namine again, sighing as he nervously ran a hand through his hair. Why couldn't anything turn out exactly as it should? Why was Sora best friends with such an asshole? His cousin was bubbly and friendly and kind, almost to a fault. How could someone so good be so close to someone capable of such coldness and anger? He would never understand it, that was for sure.

And when was Namine going to demand that they dance, dammit? Waiting for it was nearly as bad as the act itself. He'd never danced with a girl before, or in front of people. There had been some cousin's wedding or something where he had danced, but that was years ago. He'd been twelve at the time and still practically a kid.

Taking a gulp of his drink, he prepared himself to ask Namine the question that was plaguing him.

"Nam, do you want to um, dance?" he asked quietly, trying to avoid her eyes, finding himself unable to do so.

"Sure," she replied happily, placing her glass on the table and standing. They arrived at the dance floor just as the song changed to a slow one. Clusters of students paired off easily. He looked at her, her heart-shaped face flushed and pink. She eagerly wound her arms around his shoulders, stepping close. He nervously placed his hands on her waist.

Slowly, he followed her lead, and soon they were swaying on the floor along with all the other couples. It was pleasant, but her proximity meant he was surrounded by her perfume, and he started to feel slightly nauseous from it.

Another slow song started, and Roxas found himself enjoying dancing. Twirling around, he watched Sora and Kairi swaying beside them. Riku was dancing with Tifa...In fact; they made a really attractive couple.

People around them stopped dancing, but it took Namine pulling away and turning to face the commotion for Roxas to realize. A circle had formed in the middle of the dance floor and he had to stand on his tip toes to see what was going on.

"What's happening?" Roxas glanced at Sora standing beside him also standing on his toes. "Can you see-?" He shifted to the left a little and...He wasn't sure what he saw.

There were two boys, both students that he knew of, though he'd never spoken to either. The taller of the two Roxas had seen Axel hanging out with and talking to, his dirty blond hair styled into an odd mohawk/mullet combination. The smaller he'd seen Riku talking to: Zexion. And they were...kissing?

Demyx, the blond, seemed to be the 'kiss-ee' in the situation. His arms hung limply at his sides as Zexion cupped his face, stood on his toes to reach the blond's lips.

Roxas gasped as he realized what was going on. He turned to face Sora who was giggling quietly behind a hand, while Namine and Kairi watched with rapt interest, blushing all the while. He'd never seen two boys kiss before...it looked more natural than he suspected it should have.

The crowd around them laughed and chattered loudly, some even calling out hurtful words but both Demyx and Zexion seemed unaware of the attention they had garnered.

"Fucking disgusting!" someone roared, a tall muscular boy fighting his way to the center of the circle. He roughly pushed the two apart, Demyx squealing in an extremely girly way. Zexion glared up at his attacker.

"Could you not see what I was in the middle of?"

"I could see what you two _fags_ were doing just _fine_!" the boy sneered. Without further ado, he hauled back and punched Zexion square on the nose. With a startled, pained noise, the smaller boy reeled backwards, gripping his nose as blood began to ooze over his fingers.

The crowd erupted into two reactions: the girls mainly, yelped and yelled about the audacity of the bully. The boys, however, cheered him on, starting the globally familiar chant of "fight, fight, fight!"

Before any further chaos could ensue, however, a teacher appeared and wheeled all three boys away and out of the gymnasium. The crowd dissipated, groups and clusters heading to the tables. Nobody seemed in the mood to dance anymore. It was time to gossip.

"Sora! Sora! Did you see?" Roxas turned to his cousin, catching his infuriated expression.

"Of course, I saw! I can't believe people sometimes," the brunette said, sitting down at their table beside Kairi.

"Wakka's just a big bully. He'd punch nearly anybody for any reason," Kairi replied. "Not that Zexion deserved it, though."

"I can't stand it when people are so hateful," Namine murmured quietly. "Plus, he ruined a pretty good show," she nudged Kairi's side and wiggled her pale eyebrows suggestively. Kairi giggled and turned a brilliant shade of pink.

"Eww, Namine! I support everyone, but I don't particularly want to see two guys going at it!" exclaimed Sora, covering his eyes dramatically. Roxas laughed at his cousin's theatrics, but he felt a little...odd. He hadn't minded...seeing that. He didn't think it would bother him to see it again. Did that mean something? Would he mind watching something else, other than simple kissing?

"They weren't _going at it_, Sor," Kairi laughed. "They were just kissing."

"Yeah, and no offense, but I didn't particularly want to see it. Not to mention that I never would've thought the two of _them_..."


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: This was originally part of chapter 5, but now it's its own entity. Things finally start to get interesting! Yay! Oh yeah, the rating is now at M, for drug use and language. Reno and Rude also make their first appearance in this story. So yeah, enjoy!

The next few hours passed without anything else extremely interesting happening. Roxas danced with Namine some more, and conversation flowed freely. After about a half hour, both Zexion and Demyx reentered the gym, holding hands. Zexion's nose seemed to be in good condition, albeit a little red and swollen.

Roxas watched as the couple danced. There were no other incidents; no one even seemed to notice two boys slow dancing amongst the otherwise hetero couples.

For some reason, he felt grateful for that. It bothered him that others weren't as accepting as he and his friends. Even Sora's offhanded comments had bothered him, nudged something inside him that confused him more than anything else.

He'd never felt different than his peers, not in any greatly profound way. He'd heard people talking about discovering their orientation...knowing at a young age that they were somehow different from the others. He'd never felt that...but still...

At some point, Demyx and Zexion had started to kiss again, on the dance floor. They stopped swaying in rhythm, and the tall blond held Zexion preciously, as if he were afraid the smaller boy would break. He watched from the corner of his eye with rapt attention. Sora had said that he didn't feel that it looked right...but Roxas could see nothing that looked out of place. He was even slightly disappointed when another chaperone went over to the boys, politely telling them that a school dance is not the place for such activities. Demyx and Zexion had disappeared after that.

Roxas was sitting down at the table with Sora as Namine and Kairi had both excused themselves to the restroom. He felt a startling vibration in his jeans pocket. It stopped after a few seconds, so it was a text. He never got texts, having few friends. Hayner used to send them a lot, especially when he first moved. Pulling out his phone, he noticed the message was from 'Axel'.

Even just looking at the name made his stomach flutter happily.

'Yo, u busy?' The message was short and exactly what Roxas had been expecting. As if the week hadn't even happened. As if they were right back where they had left off, the previous Friday.

He hastily replied: 'I'm at the dance. You?'

Namine and Kairi returned, and although he tried to concentrate on the conversation, his phone felt heavy in his pocket. He was constantly aware of its presence, waiting for a response he wasn't sure would come.

After a few minutes of waiting, he gave up hope, his stomach's happy fluttering sinking abruptly. And then, his pocket vibrated. Quickly retrieving his phone, he blinked in surprise at the message.

'Wanna hang? I'll come pick u up.'

He replied with an affirmative, wanting nothing more in that moment than to see the red head that annoyed him so much. He wasn't sure if he wanted to yell at Axel, or just enjoy his company...but whatever it was, the happy fluttering had returned with full force.

'Be there in ten. Wait by the gym doors.'

Roxas looked at the clock and realized it was already ten 'til midnight. He'd be hanging out with Axel rather late...but that didn't matter. All that mattered was the sudden relief he felt. All that mattered was that Axel was, apparently, still his friend.

Five minutes later, he was bouncing his leg anxiously. The minutes seemed to be passing in slow motion, each one feeling like three. The conversation that had once been interesting and entertaining now seemed boring and lifeless, and he had no desire to continue it.

At the next lull of quiet, he took the opportunity to announce his sudden and rather...rude departure.

"Guys? Uh, I'm leaving."

"Where are you going, Roxas?"

He didn't know how to answer this. "Uh...Axel's coming to pick me up," he winced as the words left his mouth. This would just raise more questions...that he didn't particularly feel like answering right now.

"...Axel? Why?" This came from Namine, and suddenly his relief strangled him. It was as if he'd forgotten that he was here, with her. As in, her date. And he was just...leaving? To hang out with a boy? What was wrong with him?

"Uh, yeah. 'N because...Mr. Gallagher gave us both a new assignment and...We have to work on it," he lied haltingly. His three friends looked at him like he had just sprouted two extra heads.

"Tonight? At...midnight?" Sora asked, clearly skeptical.

"Yeah, yeah, it's just, uh-" And just then, Roxas' cell phone started to ring. Saved by the bell, literally. He put the phone to his ear, and walked from the table. He already knew who it was.

"Yo," came that familiar voice. "'M by the doors, 'n you're not there."

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Roxas replied, hurrying out of the gym and into the hallway, and through the doors...and there was Axel, standing at the foot of the stairs next to an idling motorcycle, phone to his ear. He looked up as Roxas walked out of the doors. Snapping his phone shut, he grinned at the blond, "Yo. I was worried you'd pulled a prank on me or somethin'."

"Why would I do that, Axel?"

"...Because...I'm an ass?"

"Bingo."

Axel's grin just widened. "I brought an extra helmet this time. Don't want that pretty skull of yours getting damaged."

Roxas blushed, grabbing the red helmet from his friend's hands. "Thanks."

He followed Axel onto the bike and wrapped his arms around a warm thin waist, without any hesitation. They flew off and out of the school gates, Axel ignoring a stop sign as he hurtled onto the main road. Honks from other cars failed to gain his notice.

As they drove through town, away from Roxas' house, he yelled, "Where're we going?"

"To my place," Axel yelled back, over the wind.

***

Ten minutes later, the bike stopped in front of Movie Busters.

"You live...where you work?"

"No. Well, yeah, kinda," Axel turned off the engine, and dismounted, chaining his bike to a post proclaiming 'No Parking'.

He turned and walked to a small door hidden between two store fronts, pulling keys from his pocket. "I live _above_ where I work."

Roxas followed Axel up two flights of stairs, where it opened to what appeared to be a darkened living room.

"Well, this is it. It ain't much, but it works." He flicked on a small lamp, and Roxas took in his surroundings. The room was spacious, with high ceilings, and large windows that overlooked the street they were just on.

The whole apartment seemed to be in this one room, a small kitchenette off to the left. The living room area was furnished with a well worn couch, covered with a blanket with a large, red Celtic design on the front. The drapes over the windows were the same shade of red, as were the strategically placed candles and lamp shades.

Although the apartment was spacious, it was still cluttered with typical 'bachelor' things. He'd expected that Axel lived with his parents, as most high school students did. It didn't surprise him, though to find out otherwise. The television was a mess with wires and game controllers, the two bookshelves on either side filled with movies and games.

"Wow...you're really into video games," Roxas mused as he looked over the titles. Axel had decidedly good taste. Much better than Sora's collection of Disney based games. Axel's were mainly war RPG's, rated M for obvious, gory reasons.

"Heh, yeah." Axel slumped down on his couch, lighting up a cigarette. "So, you were at the dance?"

"Ugh, yeah." Roxas sat down beside the red head, watching the way his lips curled around the filter. "Something interesting happened, though."

"Oh? So, did a girl ask you?"

"Uh, yeah," he replied, "My friend Namine asked me." For some reason, he felt uncomfortable talking about her to Axel. Like the two should have nothing to do with one another.

Axel's grin faltered, if only for a split second. He was sure if he'd blinked, he would've missed it. "Oh? Well, that's nice."

"I guess." Roxas ran a hand through his hair, and smiled at Axel. "I have some news about your friend Demyx."

"Demyx was at the dance?"

"Yeah, and uh, he got into a fight. Or, not him, really. He was, uh, kissing Zexion."

"Oh my god, seriously?" At Roxas' nod, he laughed, putting out his cigarette in a nearby ashtray. "That's amazing. _Finally_. Demyx has been crushing on Zexion since, oh, about eighth grade? It took damn long enough. But you mentioned a fight...?"

"Oh, yeah. Wakka's like...homophobic or whatever and punched Zexion in the nose."

"That little shit. I'd beat his ass bloody if I were there." Axel's grin had disappeared and was replaced with a scowl.

"I'd help."

"Wakka's really just a severe closet case. I'm glad he didn't get Demmy this time, though."

"You mean he's fought Demyx before?"

"Or beat the shit out of him, yeah. That's actually how Dem 'n I became friends."

"Want to tell me?"

"Sure," Axel grinned. "It was eighth grade, 'n I'd just moved from Hollow Bastion."

"You lived in Hollow Bastion? What was it like, growing up in the city?" Roxas was intrigued. He'd never have thought, but now that he knew, Axel seemed like he would fit in in the inner city. Much as he seemed to be a single entity; as if Axel had just sprouted into existence, parents unnecessary for such a thing.

"Eh...that's a story for another time. Anyway, I'd just moved 'n I had like, no friends. Save for my brother Reno, but he was already in the high school. 'N Wakka was a real bully then...he'd beat on all the nerds 'n shit. He even tried to with me, but when I nearly curb stomped his ass, he ran home crying. Ha!" Axel laughed heartily, and Roxas did too, although he didn't find the lethal art of curb stomping all that funny. "So...one day I was dealing some kid some pot behind the middle school, when-"

"Whoa, hold on. You dealt drugs?" He wasn't one of those kids that looked down on others who smoked pot but...dealing was serious business. And he didn't know why, but he would care if Axel got into trouble. Not to mention that dealing drugs in middle school was maybe just a little premature.

"Deal. Present tense. I've got some really good shit right now, too. If you want, you could try some. For free."

"You'd give me free bud?"

"Hah, yeah. Hell, I'd give it all to you, I don't care."

"And _your_ dealer? They wouldn't be too pleased."

"Pfft. Please. Xemnas wouldn't give a shit. I'm one of his best boys. He'd let me off the hook. So, anyway, lemme finish this story." Axel lit up another cigarette.

"Oh, okay."

"'Kay. So I was sellin', when Wakka and Demyx come around the corner. 'N Demyx is cryin', 'n Wakka's just wailing on him, y'know?" Roxas didn't know, but he nodded anyway. Axel blew a plume of smoke from the corner of his mouth and continued. "Demmy's already got a bloody nose 'n lip, so I get my money and head on over. This is after my incident with Wakka, so when he sees me, he practically pees his pants and runs away. I took Demyx to the bathroom, cleaned 'im up some. And since then...he's been my best friend. He was my first _real_ friend. Probably be the last, too."

"I know what you mean. Back in Twilight Town, where I grew up, I have a best friend. Hayner's really a one-of-a-kind guy."

"I'd like to meet him sometime. But in the meanwhile, wanna go smoke some of that bud? There's something I want to show you."

"Okay."

Axel snuffed out his cigarette and stood from the couch. He walked down a hall, and motioned for Roxas to follow. The older teen disappeared behind a door and came out a few moments later brandishing a key and a small bong, a deep midnight blue with golden swirls up and down the mouthpiece and the bowl.

"Come on," Axel walked to the end of the hall, and used the key to open a door which led to a steep metal staircase. Following it up, Axel opened another door using the key, and they were on the roof of the building.

The redhead didn't look to see if Roxas was following, but walked over to the ledge and sat down, his legs hanging over the edge of the roof.

"Wow, this is awesome," Roxas replied, sitting down cautiously beside Axel. Heights were never his thing, and he felt precarious on the edge of the building. The night was cool and windy, and it made him nervous. As if the wind would blow him over the edge.

"Yeah. This is kind of my place. Where I come to think 'n shit. No one knows about it. No one's been here. But you."

Roxas looked at Axel curiously...his brain felt like it was full of wool or cotton, stuffy and crowded with so many thoughts he couldn't even decipher them.

Finally, one question surfaced. "Is there a reason? Why me?"

"Honestly? I don't even know. I just felt like showing it to you. I thought it was something you'd appreciate."

"I do."

Axel turned away, pulling a bag from his pocket. He meticulously packed the bong, and Roxas watched anxiously. It wasn't that he hadn't smoked before...it had just been a long time. And he'd never smoked out of a bong before. Only joints and half-hearted blunts that hadn't turned out so well.

"Um, Axel?"

The teen looked at him, but lifted the bong and took a large hit. The water made a pleasant gurgling sound. A few seconds later he blew out a thick stream of milky white smoke, and Roxas could smell the burning herb, and it smelled better than he remembered.

"This your first time smoking?" As if reading his thoughts, Axel held out the bong for Roxas to take.

"No. But...I've never smoked out of one of these before."

"It's okay. Bandit's a good bong...she's small so she hits easier. Here, I'll show you how." Axel scooted a little closer, and Roxas felt his heart speed up. Maybe it was just the excitement. Sitting on a roof, getting high with some bad ass dude he hardly knew. It wasn't that he could smell Axel's scent...that same musky, spicy smell. Or that he could feel Axel's warmth against the chill night air. It wasn't that at all.

Axel held the bong as Roxas positioned his mouth over the top. The older teen lit it and said, "Inhale." The small blond did, and as Axel pulled out the slide, a gush of strong, tangy smoke rushed into his lungs. He held it in for as long as he could, but it being his first bong hit, he just immediately started coughing.

Axel laughed a little, and took another hit for himself while Roxas continued to cough and hack and wheeze.

"Damn," Roxas said, eyes watering, breathing out the last of the smoke. Axel just turned to look at him, grinning, his green eyes glistening in the pale moonlight.

The two took turns, passing the bong back and forth. After about his fourth hit, Roxas had learned to do it on his own, and he reveled every time he pulled out the slide, and that rush of smoke came. Axel laughed and told him stories, about the first time he'd gotten high; the first time he'd gotten Demyx high. Roxas replied with his own, about the first time he and Hayner had experimented, choosing to combine both marijuana and a few Bacardi Breezers. It had been fun, but the night had ended with him hugging a toilet.

Twenty minutes later, the two were delightedly giggly and detached. The height didn't bother Roxas anymore, and he lay back against the roof, staring at the stars. Living in a small town had its advantages and the abundance of twinkling lights in the sky was one of them.

Axel lay down beside him, lighting up a cigarette. Roxas watched through slitted eyes as his mouth curled around the filter.

"An after-bud-cigarette is always the best," he sighed, taking another drag.

"Can I have one?" Axel turned to look at him, giving him an odd stare.

Finally, he said, "You shouldn't start, but sure."

He didn't cough on the first inhale, even though most do. Roxas thought it must've had something to do with all that smoke he'd already inhaled...a little tobacco didn't do much damage.

Axel was right, however. The rush of nicotine just heightened his high more, making him feel slightly dizzy as well.

It grew quiet between them, but it wasn't awkward, or uncomfortable. Roxas just enjoyed the peaceful, cool night. Before long, however, it grew unpleasantly cold, and the two headed indoors.

***

"Wanna watch a movie?" Axel emerged from what Roxas presumed to be his bedroom carrying a blanket.

"Sure."

The two got comfortable on the couch, as an action-thriller started on the screen. Axel turned off any remaining lights, and the apartment was filled with darkness, save for the faint blue glow of the television.

It was just like last Friday, minus Sora. Glancing at the clock, it read 3:04...so technically it was already Saturday.

Roxas shivered. Axel looked over at him, and wordlessly opened the blanket he had draped around himself. The blond looked over at him, contemplating moving closer. It wouldn't hurt...and no one was there. So why was his stomach suddenly fluttering nervously...why did he suddenly feel anxious? The whole time he'd spent with Axel had been calming and relaxing...So why should sharing a blanket change that? Deciding to ignore his inhibitions, he scooted closer. When he was there, just a few inches from Axel, under a warm blanket...he wondered what he'd been so nervous about before anyway.

Half an hour into the movie, Axel turned to look at him.

"Can I...tell you something?"

"Of course," Roxas replied automatically. Axel could tell him anything...at least in that moment. He could say, "I'm a serial killer, and I'm going to hack you into bits and shove you in my freezer" and Roxas would be okay with it. And then, a thought came to him. If Axel could tell him anything...what was stopping him from saying what he wanted to? They were surely friends by now. Closer friends than they should've been, considering the short time they'd known each other. "Actually, can I ask you something first?"

"Sure."

"At the dance tonight...when Zexion kissed Demyx...I- Sora said that it bothered him a little to watch two boys kiss. Not that he has anything against gay people," he hurriedly added as Axel fixed with him with a disapproving look. "But...it didn't bother me. Does that...does that mean something?"

"It doesn't have to mean anything."

"What does _that_ mean?" Roxas asked.

"Well...that's kinda what I wanted to tell you. But I don't think right now is the right time to say it anymore."

"Oh, c'mon! You can't do that! It'll drive me crazy. Tell me."

"No, Roxas. Because you went to the dance with Namine...I can't say it. It's not very important anyway."

"...What does this have to do with Namine? She doesn't have anything to do with us."

"Us?" Roxas felt his face heat up, and he was grateful for the dark.

"...I don't even know what I'm saying."

It was quiet again, for a few minutes. The movie wasn't as interesting as either had expected it to be. In fact...it was very slow moving and there didn't seem to be much action at all.

"Axel?"

"Yeah?"

"When...when Sora said it bothered him. To see guys kissing. It made me...angry. And I don't know why. I mean, if I'm straight, shouldn't seeing guys kiss bother me too?"

"...If you're straight? God, Roxas. Do you even realize what you're saying? I mean, on the one hand, you go to the dance with a girl. But on the other...you're talking to me about questioning your sexuality. And that's cool 'n all...but it's confusing as hell for me."

"Why should my confusion affect you?" He was so confused...in so many ways. And his dwindling high just made everything in his head cloudier and murkier and...Why did Axel's body heat and proximity make him feel...empty? As if..._not_ touching was-

Roxas shook his head, trying to clear away thoughts he wasn't sure he should be having.

"You make me so fucking confused, Axel." He ran a hand nervously through his hair. Oh god...what had he just said? Was that like...a confession? A confession to feelings he wasn't even sure about? Shit. Why was everything so fucking confusing? "Why is everything so fucking confusing? Why is it all so...convoluted? Why can't _anything_ just be simple, for once?"

Axel sighed, lit a cigarette. "It could be simple," he finally said.

Roxas huffed, folding his arms across his chest. "How?"

"I'll make this as simple as possible." Axel sighed again, this time nervously scratching at the back of his neck. "I...like you."

"What?!" Roxas yelled, startled enough to jump in his seat.

"Don't make this any harder than it has to be." Axel's voice was stern, and it held a commanding tone Roxas hadn't heard before. He didn't want to hear it again.

"So...you like me-? And how is _that_ supposed to make this simple? If anything, now it's worse than before."

"I like you. And I think...you might like me too? And see? There. That makes it very simple. We both like each other. End of confusion."

"How does that make anything any less confusing?! God, you're so dense, Axel. And I didn't even know you were gay! You could've told me, y'know!" He was angry again, and again, he didn't even know why. Maybe it was just frustration. Frustration at his vague thoughts, frustration at Axel who seemed to be a mind-reader...How did he know such things anyway? Was he just that obvious? Or was Axel just good at reading people?

"Things don't have to be as black 'n white as gay or straight. There's lots of in betweens. And as for me, I'm somewhere in the gray area. I've dated girls, I've dated guys. I like them both. And also...before tonight...I hardly felt like I knew you. Telling a practical stranger something as personal as sexuality isn't the best way to start something. And then you come over here and you start talking about your own confusion and...Fuck. I forgot what I was saying."

At this, they both laughed. Afterwards, the heavy atmosphere had lifted. Roxas no longer felt on edge, or anxious. Axel liked him. He liked Axel, albeit in his own, confused way. But things were okay. He didn't need to stress about this. Whatever would be...would be.

"Hey Axel? Did you invite me here because...you like me?"

"Well that would make sense, wouldn't it?" They laughed again, the movie forgotten. All of a sudden...it was okay. Whatever it was...it was okay. And it would continue to be okay.

The two of them fell asleep shortly after, curled against each other on the couch.

***

Roxas awoke, once again, to the sound of yelling. However, this was a very different situation. There was something heavy on his side, and as he opened his bleary eyes, he noticed a bundle of very red spikes and realized where he was, and who was sleeping against him.

The yelling continued coming from somewhere in the kitchen area...Roxas nudged Axel's shoulder, hoping to get him up and away from his cramping side. Finally, Axel blinked, and yawned. He then proceeded to snuggle further into Roxas' side and mumble something incoherent.

Axel seemed to also realize where he was and who he was nuzzling, as he shot right up and looked at Roxas like a kid getting caught stealing from the cookie jar.

"'M sorry," he mumbled. And then he seemed to notice the yelling. "Reno? 'S that you?"

"Yes! And tell whoever you have with you to please leave, lest he witness a murder."

Axel stood and stretched, raising his arms above his head and arching his back. As he did so, his thin t-shirt lifted to reveal milky white midriff and immediately Roxas' mind shot back to their conversation last night. He felt his face grow hot, but he had no time for embarrassment as Axel beckoned him to follow.

In the kitchen stood a man who looked very much like Axel, his red hair pulled into a long ponytail which hung down his back. He was glowering at a tall, muscular man who was wearing absolutely nothing but a pair of dark sunglasses. Roxas felt himself blush for the second time in two minutes.

"Rude? For the love of god, put some pants on," Axel grumbled, stumbling his way to a coffee pot. "By the way, Reno, this is Roxas. Roxas, this is Reno, my brother. And Rude, his demented boyfriend."

Reno turned to Roxas and held out a hand. He immediately noticed two red tattoos, curling around high cheekbones. It seemed that both siblings had an affinity for facial tattoos.

As Roxas took the offered hand, Rude came up behind Reno and bit down on his shoulder. The older red head yelped and jumped, whipping around to point a finger at the still naked man.

"_Not_ while the kid is here, 'kay? I'm in no mood anyway." He turned back around to Roxas. "Nice to meet you, kid. Axel? He looks like a keeper."

"Shut the fuck up, Reno." Axel turned away from the coffee pot and opened a cabinet to pull out a mug. Turning to Roxas he asked, "Coffee?"

"Sure, thanks," Roxas mumbled, trying to keep his eyes from straying to the couple on the other side of the kitchen. Rude was doing something to Reno's neck which made him let out a small moan, and close his eyes, all the while feebly trying to push the large man away.

"Not _now_," he whined, groaning quietly immediately after.

"Reno!" Axel yelled as he spotted what his brother and boyfriend were doing. "Can you keep it in your pants for ten minutes? Or better yet, go somewhere else!"

"Mmm, with pleasure," came Rude's rumbling voice as he pulled a protesting red head down the hall.

"Sorry 'bout that," Axel said as he placed two steaming cups of coffee onto the kitchen table. "I didn't think Reno would be home, and when Reno's gone Rude usually stays locked in their room."

"That's okay. It's better than walking in on your parents, at any rate." Roxas laughed feebly, finding that he didn't like Axel's sheepish expression.

"Tell me about it. So, milk? Sugar? What can I do for you?"

"Milk _and_ sugar, please? And lots of both, if you don't mind."

"Coming right up."

***

They sat at the kitchen table, Roxas enjoying his cup of coffee more than he ever had before. The brew was strong, and would've been bitter if it weren't for the copious spoonfuls of sugar he'd poured into it. Not to mention that Axel didn't have milk but _cream_ which made everything a lot more delightful.

Axel drank his coffee black and smoked one cigarette after another, until the kitchen area was hazy with smoke. Finally, he proclaimed himself alert enough to drive Roxas home. Saying good bye was a bit of an awkward affair. Axel stood on his lawn, his bike idling as Roxas just looked up at him, unsure of how to go about this.

After what had happened last night, he'd been expecting something more than a half-hearted hug before Axel sped off on his bike. He watched the red head's retreating figure until he turned a corner and disappeared.

Cloud wasn't home, at work. He'd left a note attached to the fridge stating that he hoped Roxas had fun at the dance last night, and there was some left over take-out waiting to be heated up. He'd told Cloud that he'd be spending the night at Sora's...but no one needed to know where he really was. It wasn't much of a difference anyway, from one couch to another. However, he was sure that if Cloud knew, he'd have had a conniption.

The rest of the weekend he spent doing homework. He'd been neglecting his studies lately, instead choosing to hang out with Sora. Speaking of his cousin, Sora relentlessly called his cell phone and the house phone, but Roxas refused to answer. He could wait until Monday to be harassed for leaving the dance on Friday night. He still wasn't sure about what to say...what kind of excuse he could use other than, "Sorry guys, but Axel is just way more fun than you."

Speaking of homework and Axel, he found it increasingly impossible to remain focused on his Pre-Calculus. The complicated equations just turned into gibberish, and his mind kept traveling back to that moment on the couch, in the dark. To sitting close to a warm, hard body and feeling butterflies attack his stomach at Axel's words. Math just seemed like such a waste of time.

His mind had much more fascinating things to think about. For example, the shade of Axel's skin, or the way he gesticulated while telling a story. Or, how his lips curled around the butt of a cigarette, or the way his green eyes flashed and spoke volumes more than his mouth.

And then Roxas would get angry at himself for thinking such things. He would angrily close his textbook and pull at his hair. Then, he would resume his homework, opening the textbook back up again. It took about two hours to finish his Calculus which consisted of fifteen problems and should've taken him an hour, at most.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Phew. Writing this chapter was like pulling teeth. I re-wrote it about three times, and changed a lot of shit over and over until it finally felt at least a little decent. This is kind of filler... 'cuz stuff _finally_ starts happening in chapters 8-10. And I just wanted to write the fun stuff...not boring but necessary filler. Also, my old art teacher from high school makes her debut, kind of. She was pretty much the coolest teacher ever, and I miss her.

So, thank you so much to the people that review, I appreciate it more than you know. Keep reading! :)

Monday brought absolutely nothing. Roxas was sure that something great and tremendous had transpired in the past few days, so his morning was rather boring and dull and well...disappointing. When Sora arrived to walk with Roxas to school, nothing happened. Sora didn't jump all over him, demanding to know what had happened. In fact, he seemed extremely distracted. His cousin didn't talk much like he usually did on their walks to school...he merely sighed a little, dreamily strolling down the sidewalk. Even Roxas' mild attempts at conversation were dismissed with one or two words in response.

Chemistry proved to be more of the same. Axel arrived late as usual, but hardly gave a glance to Roxas. He'd been expecting something at least a little different. A wave, or a smile, or maybe even that he would sit in the vacant seat next to Roxas. But no, Axel just plunked down beside Tifa, immediately striking up a conversation with her. He felt like something like a stone had landed hard and dull in the pit of his stomach.

At the end of class Roxas even delayed, pretending to gather his books and papers meticulously, rather than just shoving them in his backpack as was his normal way. He'd been hoping to catch Axel's attention; but when he turned around from his bag, the classroom was completely empty. Roxas barely contained a sigh, and ran a hand through his hair.

Lunch, at least, brought something unexpected. Upon walking into the cafeteria, he noticed that their table, usually already populated by his friends was completely empty. He trudged over; a little embarrassed to be sitting down by himself. As it was, nobody else was sitting by themselves...they all had their own groups and clusters. Even the boy with blue-slate hair had taken from being the only student to sit alone at lunch to hanging out with Demyx and Axel just outside the cafeteria doors.

Ten minutes later, and halfway through an olive and cream cheese sandwich, Sora and Kairi finally entered the cafeteria themselves.

"Where were you?" Roxas couldn't help from asking as they sat down. Kairi immediately grinned, and looked at Sora with eyes that he'd never seen before. The glance held the same kind of warmth that Axel's eyes had...

"Well, we were just...uh..." Sora trailed off, his eyes locked on Kairi even as he was addressing the blond.

"We were just talking," Kairi supplied.

"Oh," Roxas smiled. He didn't want to instigate any questions that had so far, not been asked. He was rather grateful, really. He still hadn't figured out what to say about leaving the dance on Friday.

"I have some good news, though," Sora chirped, his smile morphing into a full-fledged grin. "After the dance on Friday... Kairi and I decided to...umm..."

"We decided to try... being a couple," Kairi finished, smiling warmly at Sora and she placed a hand over his. He laced their fingers together.

Roxas smiled, albeit a little awkwardly. "That's...great!"

"Yeah...that's why I kept calling you all weekend, doofus. But you wouldn't answer!"

"I was busy...with homework and stuff. Plus, you could've just walked down the block and demanded to tell me in person," Roxas laughed. Sora pouted, crossing his arms.

Namine didn't show up for the rest of lunch, though Kairi insisted that she was in school. "Probably finishing her latest painting," she said, flipping some auburn hair over her shoulder.

Roxas kept expecting one of them to bring up the dance...to bring up Axel. Especially Sora. However, it seemed that the two were too preoccupied with themselves to bring up Roxas.

By the end of the day, Roxas was anxious to get to art class. He wanted to see Namine. Although part of him was relieved, another part felt guilty. The guilty part almost...wanted to be yelled at, to be told off.

As he was expecting, Namine was sitting in her normal seat with her easel already set up, her brush to the canvas. The painting was nearly finished, and in his opinion it was her most amazing yet. It was just a simple landscape, but the trees were dark, silhouetted against a beautiful twinkling blue twilight color. The moon hung low in the sky, large and round and reflecting a pale yellow light.

"That's really coming along, Nam," he said as he sat down beside her. He pulled out his linoleum block and carving tools. She didn't respond, didn't even bat an eye, and just continued to draw dark squiggles of branches. "Nam? You 'kay?"

She didn't answer. Roxas huffed and dug into his linoleum. "...You're mad at me." She didn't say anything, but her shoulders tensed, and her head seemed to nod slightly. He could understand, of course, why she'd be pissed. He just didn't expect that such an obvious realization would make his insides like ice. He _liked_ her, dammit. Even if he wasn't sure that he liked her like, well, _that_...She was a good friend. She understood him in ways other people hadn't... He couldn't even relate to Hayner the way he could with her.

"I know why you're mad," he sighed. Roxas pushed his art materials away, and turned to watch Namine sitting on her stool.

"I would think it's pretty obvious, Roxas." Her voice was cold and held a thin waver of acrimony. She didn't look at him, but her brush stopped moving against the canvas.

"...I'm sorry," Roxas offered, but it felt like distasteful copper against his tongue. His voice raised a bit at the end of the apology...it wasn't very sincere.

Finally Namine turned to look at him. Her large blue eyes were watery and venomous. "You don't sound very sorry."

"I didn't mean to hurt you or anything. I just-"

"I know that," she interrupted, her voice still hard as stone. She sighed. "You just...should've said something. I mean," here she laughed a little, but it wasn't a happy sound. "I wouldn't have asked you if you'd just _said_."

"Said what? I wanted to go with you." Roxas wasn't sure exactly what she meant. Was she implying that she knew he...had these thoughts? If so, how did she know? Was he just that obvious? It seemed like everyone around him knew something that he didn't. Riku had suggested it before anyone else...even Sora had known somewhere, somehow...He felt like it was written on him in tar, tattooed across his forehead for the world to see. Did Cloud know as well? How could everyone else be so certain when he himself was anything _but_ certain?

"Roxas..." He looked back up at her, and her eyes had softened some. She looked much more like herself. Anger was not a flattering expression, and he didn't like it on her above everyone. "It's okay. You just...made me feel like...Like I was just there so you didn't have to...admit it. To yourself."

"Namine...I don't even know _what_ yet I'm admitting to. I just...don't know, okay? Can you forgive me for my own confusion?"

She smiled at him a little. "Yeah. That's okay. As I said, you should've just told me." He gave her a smile in return.

Mrs. Ganes, the art teacher chose this moment to stroll behind them and stop, peering over both their shoulders.

"Roxas, you don't feel like working today?" she asked, her voice an odd combination of kindness and sternness.

"No, I was just talking," he replied sheepishly, eagerly pulling his linoleum block back to the edge of the table.

"Well, less talk, more art. Okay?" She gave a thin, austere smile and turned to Namine. "That's coming along well. Nearly done?" At Namine's affirmative, Mrs. Ganes said something about mounting it next period. She made to walk away but paused, hovering behind Roxas. "Roxas, I'd like to speak with you after class."

He gave her a nervous glance, wondering if he was in trouble for slacking. Usually Mrs. Ganes was pretty lenient, but she seemed to have her moments of frustration and stress. She was often very temperamental: one day she'd be bubbly and helpful, and the next she'd wear a constant frown and snap at requests for help or supplies.

"Nothing bad," she added, and Roxas smiled at her in relief. It seemed like today was one of her good days...thank god.

***

Roxas waited after class, Namine being the only one to stay behind to finish her piece. Mrs. Ganes often let her most prized students stay, as long as they were quiet and cleaned up after themselves. He followed her to the art office, right next to the dark room. She sat down at a computer and motioned for Roxas to do the same. The room looked more like a lounge than an office, having a mini-fridge and microwave, as well as a small futon couch and three computers. Some student's work hung on the walls from years previous. One was dated from 1985...wow.

He looked at her as she took off her wire rimmed glasses. "Why do you think I want to speak with you?"

The question caught Roxas off guard. "I don't think I know."

She gave him an odd smile. "You're in tenth grade and you're taking a class for seniors who need extra time to finish their portfolios. And...To be frank, you're nearly as talented as they are."

For a second, he thought he hadn't heard right. Then he blushed, looked down and mumbled a "Thanks" through his smile.

"So, I was thinking you should join N-A-H-S or the National Art Honor Society. And next year, we could get you started on a portfolio..."

"Umm, yeah, okay. I like art."

"Do you draw at home?"

Roxas didn't want to respond...he liked Mrs. Ganes, but he wondered what her reaction would be. Would she take back her offer? "Not really..."

"Okay. You should start, though. Get a sketchbook," she smiled. "You should probably go; you'll miss your bus. See you tomorrow, Roxas!"

He smiled back, grabbed his backpack and left. Sora'd probably gone home already, but that was okay. He still had to go to his locker, which was on the second floor. After he'd gathered some notebooks, and put others back, he was still smiling. He really didn't think he was much of an artist, though he'd finished two prints already. They were all right, but he really liked the one he was starting now. It was an image of a man, with his flesh open to reveal a rib cage full of blackbirds.

***

Later that evening, Roxas was waiting eagerly for Cloud to return. Sitting on the couch watching something stupid on tv, he anxiously glanced at the clock on his phone. It was just past five. He knew part of himself wanted for someone to call, but he didn't want to think like that. The cell phone screen went black, and Roxas sighed. He shoved it back in his pocket, scowling. This was so stupid. Didn't Axel say that he liked him? Didn't he make overtures to Roxas that weren't so...platonic?

Headlights flashed into the living room window as a car pulled up in the driveway. Cloud was home.

Sure enough, a few moments later, his brother walked into the house, and hung up his jacket. "Roxas?" he called.

Roxas immediately stood up and went over to Cloud. "I need a sketchbook. So...can we go get one?"

"Didn't we just buy school supplies?" Cloud furrowed his eyebrows. He looked tired.

"Yeah, but, please? I have no other way of getting there. Unless...I could drive myself?" He smiled innocently at his brother, giving him wide puppy eyes.

"No. I'll drive," Cloud snapped as he turned to grab his jacket from the closet.

"Thanks," the smaller blond grinned as he grabbed a coat of his own.

***

Tuesday evening, Roxas was sitting at his desk, with his brand new sketchbook opened to the first page. He drummed his pencil against the wood, and looked out his window for inspiration. The moon was high in the sky, just a small crescent. A few stars were scattered here and there. He could see a telephone wire silhouetted against dark blue, and the yellow shine of a street light. Nothing out of the ordinary. Ugh. His pencil continued its rhythmic beat.

His mind was once again on other things. This wasn't about Axel, however. It was about Riku. The silverette had tried to join their table at lunch again, meekly asking if he could sit. Sora glared at the wall, refusing to even acknowledge his once best friend. Riku finally slinked away, looking miserable. He had bags under his blood shot eyes and for a second Roxas wondered if he'd been up all night crying. Then his rational mind told him that Riku wasn't _capable_ of crying. Even though Sora had been in his life since forever. Even though not being with Sora when he was _right there_ must've been torture.

Sora, disturbingly, didn't seem to miss Riku at all. He still went about everyday, like normal. Although, he really had just hooked up with Kairi. Which was kind of weird, in and of itself. Lunch had been kind of awkward, between Namine who acted like nothing had happened, and the new couple not so secretly playing footsie under the table.

Roxas looked down, and realized that he'd been drawing. He hadn't been paying attention, just put the pencil to paper and did whatever. And it was nothing, really. Just a pair of cat-shaped eyes that looked startlingly familiar. Dammit! Honestly, did _everything_ have to be about that dumb red-head?

At that moment, his pocket started to ring. Pulling out his phone, his sighed expecting it to be Sora, like usual. Except, the screen said 'Axel'. Speak of the devil. He blinked, and the ringing continued. Finally, his body reacted, and his flipped it open.

"Hello?"

"Hey Rox!" came a muffled but excited greeting. He could hear the sound of background music and the roar of people talking. "What's up?"

"Uh, n-nothing, really," Roxas tried to keep himself from smiling. He wasn't happy at the sound of Axel's voice. Nope. Definitely not. And those _certainly_ weren't butterflies.

...Fuck.

"So, I was wondering..." Had Axel's voice just dropped an octave? Seriously? "Do you wanna hang out tomorrow?"

"Um, okay." He didn't think he could say more than that. His heart was kind of in his throat at the moment. Axel didn't answer for a moment, and Roxas wondered if he could hear him over the noise on Axel's end.

There was a loud boom of laughter, which Axel participated in, that kind of broke the moment.

"Listen, Rox, I have to go. But I'll see you tomorrow, 'kay? Bye!" A click and Roxas ended the call as well. He really...just did not understand that damn red head. One minute Axel could have his entire focus on Roxas. He could call to make plans, and then disappear the next second, as if nothing had happened. Axel had the undeniable ability to make one feel like they were the only person on the planet, only to then turn his back and shatter that illusion into a million tiny pieces.

It was weird, and it did little to calm Roxas, who wanted nothing but stability right now. However, a recent memory surfaced, of the tranquil evening he'd spent with Axel. That night, Axel's lingering gaze, his lingering words...they'd made Roxas feel important, real and solid. And Axel had done nothing to destroy that feeling bubbling in the blond's stomach.

He turned back to his sketchbook with renewed vigor and inspiration.

***

The next morning felt like years. Roxas woke up early, not on purpose. But sleep had been restless; his belly having never fully settled after Axel had called. He showered quickly, and for some reason, his hair actually looked good. Shiny and soft, and still tousled, but that was sexy, wasn't it? Jesus Christ, why did he care about such things anyway? Stupid.

Pre-Calc and U.S. History went by slower than he could stand. Chemistry was torture. Axel arrived on time for once in his life, but only smiled and waved at Roxas from across the room. They had lab that day, so it was a double period.

The bell rang, finally releasing him from hell. He delayed again, meticulously collecting his books and papers. The warm hand that fell on his shoulder from behind was expected, though. Roxas stood up straight and turned around. The classroom was empty, save for himself and Axel. Who was standing really close, actually. A little too close for one's personal comfort and Roxas wasn't one to have his bubble abruptly popped. He looked up to find green cat-shaped eyes staring down at him, bright and flickering. Like tiny flames.

"H-hey," Roxas stuttered, blushing at his lack of cool.

"Hey yourself," Axel grinned, all of a sudden moving away to sling a bag over his shoulder. "I was thinking, my place after school? Don't worry; Reno and Rude won't be there."

"Okay, sure."

"See you after school, then." Axel gave a warm smile as he left the classroom. Roxas followed, wishing the day to pass by faster.

Of course, his following classes took ages to end. It seemed as though every time he glanced at the clock it was moving slower, the hands teasingly ticking backwards only to piss him off. He glared at the clocks in return, tapping his pen anxiously against his desk.

Were his classes always this boring? Normally, notes seemed to be worth taking. His teachers were at least a little interesting, or at least they had been. Even art -the class that he was slowly looking forward to every day- ended up proving to be just as arduous and tedious as all the others.

Finally, _finally_, the last bell rang. Students hurried from the art room, Roxas scurrying along with them.

Three minutes later, and he was out in the sun, Axel exactly where he'd expected: smoking a cigarette by a shiny black motorcycle. As Roxas descended the side steps Axel chose that moment to lift his head and catch blue eyes. He smiled and waved, and Roxas reciprocating, felt some kind of relief that he would only recognize much later. It was that special kind of relief of being around someone that you truly, deeply miss when they aren't around. It would later be the same feeling he'd experience with Axel's arms wrapped around him.

"Hey short-stuff," Axel said as Roxas drew close enough to ruffle the hair on his head. The older boy grinned at the mess he'd made of blond hair. Roxas huffed and lifted a hand to smash his spikes back down.

"'M not short, jerk." He glared up at Axel, feeling his face heat up regardless of his annoyance. This was another first. It was the first time Axel had ever teased him. It would soon morph into a constant occurrence, mainly because the red head _really_ liked that expression on Roxas. Slightly disgruntled, with a hint of a smile tugging at his pretty, pouty little mouth.

Since this was the first time Axel had ever seen that expression, he momentarily forgot himself and stood there staring for a long moment. God damn, Roxas was so fucking _cute_, even though he wasn't, really. The blond may have had an angelic face that was just _begging_ for corruption....but Roxas himself was another matter. The boy was headstrong, and smart, and confusing as fuck. Not to mention, probably not capable of corruption...He didn't seem to be the virgin type.

"Are we going to be going anytime soon?" Roxas asked, looking at Axel skeptically. The red head awkwardly shrugged himself out of his 'omgroxasissohot' reverie.

"Yeah, yeah, we're goin'."

***

Axel's apartment was different in day light. It seemed smaller, and dirtier, old pizza boxes scattered around the living room. Empty beer and soda cans littered the floor, two ashtrays on the coffee table over-full and nearly falling over. The room was also in need of a good dusting.

"Sorry 'bout the mess. Haven't really had the time to clean," Axel grinned sheepishly as they stood there.

"...Do you honestly think I care?" Roxas looked up at his friend blankly.

"I guess not. You wanna...drink or something? 'N then we can play this new game I got."

"Yeah, sure," Roxas followed Axel into the kitchen. After deciding on root beer, Axel lit up a cigarette and moved towards the living room.

"This game is sick."

"What is it?" The blond asked as he sat down on the couch, watching Axel fiddling with his Xbox on the floor.

"Left 4 Dead, ever heard of it?"

"No."

"Well, this is the sequel, anyway. Just came out. I've hardly had a chance to play it yet." Axel sat down beside Roxas, handing him a controller, grinning. "You like zombies?"

"I like _killing_ zombies."

The grin widened. "Perfect."

Twenty minutes later, Roxas was sitting on the edge of the couch, furiously attacking his controller as he shot randomly into the onslaught of zombies that he couldn't see thanks to the green vomit his character was now covered in. "Fuckin' shit," he groused, the very tip of his tongue sticking out of his mouth in concentration.

As the green stuff suddenly vanished, among hundreds of corpses came some..._thing_ barreling towards them, huge and monstrous.

"What the shit is that?!" cried the blond, switching to a machine gun as he shot at the monster.

"It's a tank! Run!" came Axel's startled shout as his character started to retreat as quickly as possible. "Run and shoot!"

However, to Roxas' great horror, the 'Tank' reached for his character and...He died. "Fuck!"

_Ding-dong._

The doorbell rang suddenly, and that was enough to cause Axel's character to trip and fall, and be stepped on. "God dammit!" He stood up, and walked over to where the staircase met the living room. The door downstairs opened and shut and, "Hello?"

"Demyx, what the fuck man? What are you doing here?"

Footsteps on the stairs, and then there was a tall, smiling sandy-blond standing in front of Axel.

"We already made plans, Ax, you know that," Demyx grinned, slapping him on the shoulder in a friendly way.

"I said _seven_, Dem. After work. Not at..." Axel glanced at the clock on the cable box. "Three thirty." His expression showed no humor, but there was something about his face that didn't seem annoyed at all, as his tone implied.

"Seven, three, what's the difference?" Demyx made a shrugging motion and walked further into the apartment, when he saw Roxas. His slightly dopey grin morphed into theatrical shock and then settled on overly bemused. "Well, Axel, if you'd just _said-_"

"I'm not letting you finish that thought," Axel interrupted quickly, slapping the back of his friend's head in return.

"Ow!" The sandy-blond cried, one hand immediately going up to massage the back of his skull. "What was that for?!"

"For being an idiot," The red head deadpanned, sitting down once again on the couch beside Roxas. "Oh yeah! You guys haven't really met yet. Demyx, this is Roxas. Roxas, this is my lame best friend."

The smaller blond smiled and turned to give Demyx his hand. "Hi."

"Oh my gosh, Roxas...Axel's told me _so_ much about you. In fact, he doesn't shut up. It's kind of annoying, actu-"

For the second time, Axel slapped Demyx on the head, resulting in another bought of yelling and pouting.

"So, what're you guys doing?" Demyx asked as he finally calmed down enough to sit on the chair perpendicular to the couch.

"Playing L4D 2," came Roxas who felt just a little snubbed with Axel and Demyx's obviously close relationship.

"You already have it? Oh, can I play? Please? Pleee-ase?" Demyx was excitedly leaning forward, grinning, and eyeing Axel's controller.

"No," Axel said, immediately snatching up said controller and proceeding to start the level over.

"You're so meeeaaan," Demyx whined, pouting. The taller blond reminded Roxas of Sora, hyper and overly dramatic. He smiled none the less.

"Dem, I have to beat the first level before anyone else, you know that."

"But I'm playing it," interjected Roxas, smirking and feeling kind of special. He remembered now that he knew of a place Axel loved that Demyx didn't.

As if on cue, Axel turned to Roxas and smiled. "That's different, duh."

Roxas cocked an eyebrow, feeling smug and completely comfortable. "How so?"

The small blond gave a yelp of surprise as he was suddenly enveloped in warm arms. "I think you can guess," Axel whispered, right next to his ear. Roxas gasped a little in response to the breath on his neck and ear that caused a shiver to run down his spine. With weak arms he pushed at Axel's chest.

"Yeah, okay, I got it," he said, feeling his face heat up between Axel's burning eyes and Demyx's knowing smirk.

"You guys are so cute!" The taller blond finally squealed, happily clapping his hands. "You remind me of me and Zexy. And oh yeah, that's kind of why I came over." Demyx leapt up from his spot on the chair and plonked down between Roxas and Axel on the couch, practically sitting in the red head's lap.

"Dem, I _really_ don't care what you did with him today. I really don't care if he sucked you off in the bathroom during Study Hall," Axel said, pushing Demyx away from him.

Roxas couldn't help it...Axel said it so seriously and he just burst out laughing. Axel joined in a moment later as Demyx's face turned bright red.

"You guys are jerks. I was gonna invite you to Zexy's party, but now I don't think I will." The sandy-blond crossed his arms over his chest. "Jerks," he repeated, as the two just continued laughing.

After a few long moments, Roxas finally stopped chuckling, and his wiped a tear from the corner of his eye. "Oh man," he continued to giggle a little, finally stopping as Axel did as well.

"So, what about a party?"

"It's Saturday, at Zexion's. Everyone's gonna be there."

"Sweet. Is it like..._everyone_ or like, just the group?"

Roxas now felt completely lost in the conversation.

"Well, it's our group but Zex is also inviting some people," Demyx said.

"Nice. You're coming, right Roxy?" Axel turned again to face Roxas and found himself looking at the blond wearing that same slightly disgruntled expression.

"Don't call me that."

"What, Roxy?"

"Yeah, that," Roxas crossed his arms and tried his best to scowl instead of pout.

"But it's so cute! Just like you, Roxy!" Axel grinned, and slung an arm around small shoulders, pulling a protesting blond to his side.

"I'll show _you_ cute," he grumbled, grabbing his abandoned controller.

"I'll play if you answer my question."

"What was the question again?"

"You're gonna come, right?"

Suddenly, Demyx burst into laughter where he was once again seated on the chair. "That sounded so dirty, Ax."

"Perv," Axel said, before turning back to look at Roxas again. He was blushing again, but also seemed to be trying to bite down a smile at Demyx's antics.

"Yeah, I'll come," he finally grinned as Axel and Demyx erupted into peals of laughter.


End file.
